Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was actually at the Speaker's lunch for the first time when the Taoiseach told his story about his interaction with President Trump. Although the telling of it was gauche and cringy, I am more worried about the fact that it happened than the fact that the Taoiseach said it out loud on that occasion. Correct me if I am wrong, but I am not sure he has actually given an explanation for that turn of events, how it was that a very wealthy business person, in this case Donald Trump, could contact him, a senior Cabinet Minister, when, I understand, he was abroad and how the chain of events then unfolded. I understand that the Taoiseach did not contact the local authority directly but that the contact was mediated through an agency under his Department's control. I understand it was Fáilte Ireland. The Taoiseach needs to take the opportunity to set out that chain of events - a chain of events that is deeply worrying from the substantive point of view not only of planning policy, wind farms and renewable energy, but also just of governance. How is it a good message? I understand the close relations with America and Irish America and the diplomatic realities of that-----

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