Nine months before Donald Trump was elected president, he was asked at a campaign rally about a golf course he had bought on Ireland’s Atlantic coast. He shrugged it off, saying it was “small potatoes,” but the property has re‑entered his focus as he prepares a weekend visit to the island, his first since 2019.
The two‑day trip will involve about 4,000 Irish and American security personnel and a reported €20 million cost to taxpayers. Trump will meet Taoiseach Micheál Martin and President Catherine Connolly at Phoenix Park, which has been closed for the occasion, before flying to Shannon and then to the Doonbeg resort where the Irish Open will finish.
Opposition to the visit is widespread. A recent poll found 69 % of the Irish public do not support Trump’s presence. Protesters in Dublin and Doonbeg are expected to march, with activists citing his support for Israel’s Gaza campaign, the Iran war, climate denial, and a civil court finding of sexual abuse. Sarah Clancy, a community worker, described the protest as a “real sense of disgust and repulsion,” while journalist Justine McCarthy said she would join to signal that “we don’t want him here.”
Political parties have condemned the visit. Labour’s Aodhán Ó Ríordáin warned that the red carpet should not be rolled out for a president who has “undermined the EU and international law.” Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald welcomed the demonstrations and urged that Gaza be raised in the meeting with President Connolly. The protest, slated to begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday, will march toward the Dáil, and organisers expect the Garda Síochána to handle any unrest.
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