US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump appears to have u-turned on his stance that global warming doesn't exist after filing a planning application to build a protective wall around his coastal Irish golf course.
The Republican candidate's company, TIGL Ireland Enterprise Ltd, have cited global warming as the reason for wanting to erect a wall at Doonbeg Golf Club in Co. Clare - despite the controversial businessman previously rubbishing its existence.
Mr Trump has famously denied the presence of global warming outright, calling it a "con" and a "hoax".
In 2012, the star of the US Apprentice tweeted that global warming had been created by the Chinese in order to make American manufacturing non-competitive.
But in a bid to push through the building of the wall, which would protect Mr Trump's investment from storm damage and coastal erosion, the company filed an application with Clare County Council earlier this month.
The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 6 November 2012
In 2013, Mr Trump again questioned the existence of global warming in a tweet that suggested that cold weather proved that the planet could not be experiencing the change:
It's freezing outside, where the hell is "global warming"??
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 25 May 2013
It is possible that this latest development might signal a change in the businessman's thinking about the environment.
Mr Trump's company bought Doonbeg Golf Club in 2014 and has been attempting to build a 2.8km sea defence wall to protect it from the Atlantic ocean.
The Trump-owned company has been in a dispute with conservationists over the building of the wall since the golf course was first purchased.
The Carrowmore dunes, where the proposed wall would be built, have been designated a Special Area of Conservation and a Natura 2000 site.
Doonbeg golf course in Co. ClareEnvironmental campaigners have argued the recent application proposal is merely evidence of Trump's hypocrisy.
League of Conservation Voters spokesman Seth Stein told the New York Daily News: "Trump's move to literally shield himself from the impacts of climate change while denying the problem even exists reveals one of his fundamental flaws.
"He'll do whatever it takes to protect his own profits, but shows little interest in protecting the rest of us."
A decision on the application is due on July 4.
Should the planning application be successful, it is understood it will be Mr Trump's company that pays for the wall to be built.
