Donald Trump turns focus to golf after sparking row with Irish unity remarks
US President Donald Trump with his son Eric Trump waving to spectators at the Irish Open at the Trump International Golf Links & Hotel in Doonbeg, Co Clare (Damien Eagers/PA) PA Wire Press Association Reporters 2 minutes ago Donald Trump has turned his focus to golf after triggering a diplomatic row as he backed a united Ireland on the first day of his trip to the country.
Speaking to reporters, the US president claimed Irish reunification was inevitable, adding it “may as well happen now”.
Mr Trump’s visit to Ireland has led to protests in a number of locations, with thousands flooding the streets of Dublin city centre to express their anger.
After a series of engagements in Dublin in the morning, Mr Trump travelled to the Doonbeg golf resort he owns in Co Clare where he watched some of the action at the Irish Open with his family on Saturday evening.
He was given a rapturous reception as he made a brief appearance in the members’ bar of the hotel.
Punters cheered, chanted: “USA” and sang songs as Mr Trump filed through the bar on Saturday night.
The day began with a visit to Irish President Catherine Connolly at her Áras an Uachtaráin residence in Phoenix Park amid a huge security operation undertaken by the Irish police service (An Garda Síochána).
The president then travelled to the nearby Farmleigh House to meet Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
Answering a question from the Press Association about Irish unity, Mr Trump said: “I’d love to see it unified. I think it would be a great feather in everybody’s cap if that happened. It’s going to happen eventually.”
Referencing Mr Martin sitting next to him, Mr Trump added: “We’re talking about it and you got the right man over here to get it moving.
“Now the UK will have something to say about it, obviously. But I think it would be a great thing. I mean, how can it be bad?”
During a subsequent engagement at the US ambassador’s residence in Ireland, Mr Trump did not back away from his earlier answer, stating Irish unification would be “a very cool thing”.
After the president left Dublin, thousands of people took part in a protest march which travelled through the city.
Gardaí mounted a massive security operation with officers lining the route and public order units positioned nearby.
5News aggregated this summary from the outlet’s public feed. The full article, with all the context, is on www.standard.co.uk — the content belongs to Evening Standard.
