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THE PRESENCE OF the rare 2mm snail, the Vertigo Angustior at Trump Doonbeg in Co Clare has resulted in a fresh hurdle being placed in the Trump firm’s plans to build a ballroom for the resort.

This follows An Coimisiún Pleanála writing to Trump Doonbeg firm, TIGL Ireland Enterprises Ltd, requesting a number of reports from the applicants including one that will examine the impact, if any, of the ballroom construction on the microscopic Vertigo Angustior from a microhabitat and hydrological viewpoint.

In the letter to the applicants, the Commission confirms that it has examined the appeal for the 320-person capacity ballroom and is of the opinion that certain information is necessary to enabling it to determine the appeal.

Last month, ACP deferred making a decision on the appeal until 25 November and the new request for the various reports will delay further the Commission making a decision as it has given the applicants until 29 October to send on the new reports.

The slow progress of the ballroom for Doonbeg is in sharp contrast to the breakneck speed for the Trump ballroom at the White House.

This week, 250 workers are progressing the project with construction continuing for 20 hours a day, seven days a week to complete as much work as quickly as preservationists continue to challenge the project in the courts.

In February, Clare Co Council granted the Doonbeg ballroom scheme the go-ahead and the plan was stalled by a sole objector to the proposal, Liam Madden of Convent Rd, Longford.

In his appeal against the planned ballroom, Madden has urged ACP to “please refuse this nonsense” and stated that ACP must refuse planning permission for a number of reasons.

Madden contends that the planning documentation lodged with the application doesn’t comply with the Planning and Development Act “and cannot be remedied”.

The operator of Trump Doonbeg, TIGL Ireland Enterprises Ltd also lodged a first-party appeal to ACP against a planning condition concerning the Vertigo Angustior attached to the planning permission for the new ballroom.

Now, in its letter to the applicants, ACP point out a Natura Impact Statement lodged with the application states that the overall status of the Vertigo Angustior within the Carrowmore Dunes Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and in suitable habitat within non-SAC is in terminal decline.

The letter states that “the Vertigo Augustior is sensitive to hydrological and microhabitat change, therefore, to accurately assess whether the proposed development would adversely affect the integrity of Carrowmore Dunes SAC, the eco-hydrological connectivity and environmental supporting conditions critical to the structure and functions of the qualifying interests of the SAC needs to be fully understood”.

As a result, the Trump firm must provide a hydrological assessment to the potential alteration of groundwater conditions from earthworks, excavations and construction of the ballroom foundations.

The Commission has also asked the Trump firm to update the Natura Impact Statement assessment in terms of the cumulative effects to European sites considering the current conservation status of species which would include the Vertigo Angustior.

The Commission has also requested the applicants to provide an Ecological Impact Assessment (EIA) to fully assess the potential impacts of the proposed development on species within the study area, which would again include the Vertigo Augustior.

The Trump firm preparing their response to the ACP letter coincides with the Washington Post newspaper profiling objector, Liam Madden this week in an article headlined ‘Trump wants a ballroom in Ireland. One man is having a ball fighting it’.

In the article accompanied by a posed photograph of the 76-year-old Co Longford man, Madden says “If there is a God in heaven, I will win the planning appeals and capitalize on it for notoriety.”

Madden insisted to the Washington Post that the Doonbeg ballroom will never be approved, commenting “I’ve caught them with their pants down”.

He told the paper: “Joe Biden beat Donald Trump once. I’ve beaten him twice.”

Madden has been contacted for comment.

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