Puckering Paddies
*"...I wonder what the local objections were to the existing adjacent golf course.."*
Probably about as vociferous as those raised near Port Salainn in Co. Donegal where the rucksack-toting, shorts-wearing visitor approaching the sand dunes is met with a wall of signs of the; "No Tents", " No Overnight Parking", "No Swimming", "No Making Sandcastles", "This Is A Protected Area", "These Dunes Are Fragile", " Don't Even Look At The Dunes" variety —about 50 metres away from where a huge expanse of said dunes has been concreted and turfed over to create a stars and stripes festooned "Sycophantic Seamus's Big Ol' Irish Yee-Haw American Style Golf Center and US Visitor Fellating Facility"
I've said it before and I'll say it again; if you think the UK's playing poodle to the US is nauseating, don't ever visit Ireland, without packing a large supply of sick bags.