Hopes that Donald Trump may choose Northern Ireland as the site to build the finest golf resort in the world appear to have finally sunk without trace this week.

Last December it appeared that Northern Ireland was about to win out in a Celtic battle with its Scottish neighbors to become the American tycoon's favored option for a $2 billion luxury resort which, it was claimed, would include the finest golf course in the world.

While Trump had originally favored his ancestral Scotland as the site for the luxury resort, strong opposition from local environmentalists appeared to make that choice highly unlikely.

As doubt over the Scottish option increased in December last year, Northern Ireland's then First Minister Ian Paisley met Trump and offered the North as an alternative.

Hopes that Northern Ireland could scoop the top prize increased when Trump sent top advisor George Sorial to the North to look at potential sites.

It was hoped that, if successful, the development would have created as many as 6,000 jobs for the local economy.

But on Monday it was announced that Northern Ireland had lost out on the sports development after Scottish courts gave Trump permission to go ahead with his original development at Menie in Aberdeenshire.

However, Ian Paisley Junior claimed that Northern Ireland's hopes of a Trump resort were not dependant on the failure of the Scottish resort proposals and insisted that the Irish alternative was still a viable option.