Group claims ballroom at Trump's Doonbeg resort must wait until rare snail starts to prosper

The Friends of the Irish Environment maintain that a High Court settlement contained an order which ensured any future development would be 'bound by the objective of maintaining favourable conservation status' of the Vertigo angustior snail

A computer-generated image of the planned ballroom addition to Trump’s Doonbeg golf resort in west Clare.

An environmental group which challenged plans for a golf course at Doonbeg in west Clare over 25 years ago, claims permission for a new ballroom at the Donald Trump-owned resort cannot be granted until conditions set in April 2000 to protect the habitat of a rare snail are met.

The Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) claims the “terminal decline” of the protected snail species, Vertigo angustior, threatens the plans for the proposed large ballroom on the site of an existing event marquee at the golf resort.