Ireland gears up for massive security operation ahead of Trump's Doonbeg trip

Irish authorities are bracing for a major security operation as they prepare for President Donald Trump's expected visit to Ireland next month. The trip is likely to include a meeting with Ireland's leader, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, in Dublin before Trump travels on to his Trump International Golf Links and Hotel in Doonbeg, County Clare, for the Irish Open.

United States' President Donald J. Trump is expected to land in Dublin on the morning of Saturday, September 13, where he will likely meet Taoiseach Micheál Martin at Farmleigh House in the Phoenix Park. From there, he is expected to travel to Doonbeg for the golf tournament.

There have also been reports that Trump could turn the sod at the site of the new US embassy in Ballsbridge, though this has not been confirmed. It also remains unclear whether he will pay a courtesy call on President Catherine Connolly at Áras an Uachtaráin. Connolly has been an outspoken critic of Trump in the past but said during her election campaign that she would meet him if required. The US embassy in Dublin has declined to comment on the visit's details.

The visit is expected to bring significant demands from the US on Irish authorities regarding the president's security, and protest organizers are already mobilizing. Sara O'Rourke of the Irish Neutrality League, which has previously organized demonstrations on Irish neutrality, said groups from across the country have been in touch about plans to protest.

She told the Irish Times organizers are hoping for a "big, safe event" and a "family-friendly, peaceful protest" in Dublin, with further demonstrations expected at Shannon Airport and in Doonbeg itself.

"The protest will be under the banner of no welcome for Trump," O'Rourke said.

Trump International Golf Links & Hotel Doonbeg Ireland, County Clare.

Two online coordination meetings have already taken place, with a third planned for the coming days. The Irish Anti-War Movement, led by People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett, is also helping organize the demonstrations. They have the backing of TDs from the Social Democrats, Sinn Féin and several independents, along with groups including the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, United Against Racism and the socialist feminist group Rosa.

People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said, "Popular opposition to Trump's militarism, racism and misogyny will be visible on the streets."

Labour MEP for Dublin Aodhán Ó Ríordáin echoed that sentiment, saying, "I'm confident the people of Dublin will show their disdain for Trump and his politics ... Trump will not visit the capital without opposition from ordinary Dubliners."

For the Irish Neutrality League, the protests will also focus on the government's plans to scrap the triple lock mechanism, which currently requires a United Nations resolution before Irish troops can be deployed overseas on peacekeeping missions.

Critics argue that requirement effectively hands a veto to the permanent members of the UN Security Council, including Russia, China and the US. The long-running Irish peacekeeping mission in Lebanon is due to reach the end of its UN mandate later this year, adding urgency to the debate.

The visit has also stirred debate within Irish sport and politics over the choice of Doonbeg as the venue for the Irish Open, which the Independent has reported on. One Sligo-based senator has argued the tournament should instead have been staged in Connacht, rather than at a course owned by the US president, reigniting a wider conversation about mixing golf with politics.

At the same time, the Irish Independent has also highlighted the significant economic boost the Trump-owned resort has delivered to west Clare since it was purchased by the Trump Organization in 2014, with local jobs and investment credited with helping fund education and opportunity for families in the area. That contrast, between the economic goodwill the resort has generated locally and the political backlash the president's visit is expected to draw nationally, is likely to define coverage of the trip in the weeks ahead.

The Irish Sun has also reported on the scale of the logistical challenge facing gardaí and security planners, given Doonbeg's remote, rural setting on the Atlantic coast, far from the resources typically available in Dublin.

Trump last visited Doonbeg in 2019 during his first term as president, when he received a warm welcome from many locals. That trip, along with a separate 2019 visit to Dublin, also drew large protests from climate activists, left-wing groups and anti-war campaigners, some of whom flew a giant Trump baby blimp over the capital.

With just weeks to go before the president's expected arrival, gardaí, protest organizers and officials on both sides of the Atlantic are now racing to finalize plans for what promises to be one of the biggest security operations Ireland has seen in years.