The Taoiseach released an email he sent to Fáilte Ireland following a call from Trump.
On Friday at a New York press call, Leo Varadkar told reporters that he had gone back and checked with his staff and checked the record, following the controversy surrounding his earlier remarks.
On Thursday in Washington D.C., the Taoiseach said that Trump had raised concerns about a series of wind farms that were due to be constructed in the area, after Trump purchased the resort back in February 2014.
At the time the Minister for Tourism, Varadkar said he received a phonecall from Trump, who the Taoiseach recalled as having said:
“There’s a problem nearby. Somebody was trying to build a wind farm and that, of course, could have a real impact on tourism and the beauty of the landscape.
“I endeavoured to do what I could do about it,” the Taoiseach continued. “The planning permission was declined and the wind farm was never built. thus the landscape being preserved.”
“The president has very kindly given me credit for that. I have to say it probably would have been refused anyway.”
However, having gone back to check his records following these remarks, Varadkar said that he had not contacted Clare County Council either verbally or in writing as Minister for Tourism, that it was entirely within the remit of Fáilte Ireland to look at planning applications to see if they would have a negative impact on tourism, and that passing on the concerns of a businessman investing in tourism in Ireland was entirely appropriate.
He also released the email he had sent to Failte Ireland:
Breaking: Taoiseach @campaignforleo has released the email he sent to Fáilte Ireland after he received a call from @realDonaldTrump regarding Doonbeg. pic.twitter.com/F3rQIAL5Mr
— Brian O'Donovan (@BrianOD_News) March 16, 2018
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