US President Donald Trump took a break from his round of golf in Doonbeg to meet the teachers and students of Clohanes, a local primary school.
Donald Trump took a break from his round of golf at Doonbeg to entertain a group of primary school children who had been watching him play.
Pupils of Clohanes National School, along with four members of staff, had taken the day off school in the hope that they would see the US President during his round.
The 27-student primary school is situated in the West Clare village of Cloonnagarnuan, around four miles from the Trump hotel and golf resort. The students, accompanied by their teachers, waved to the President as he approached the ninth green and he waved back.
The group was soon approached by an agent of Trump’s security services and a member of An Garda Síochana, who told them that the President would like to meet the teachers. The four members of staff shook hands with Trump on the 10th tee box and asked whether they could bring their students up to meet him.
Read more: Don Jr and Eric Trump embark on pub crawl during trip to Ireland
Image: CLOHANES NATIONAL SCHOOL
Instead, Trump said that he would go down to meet them where they watched and posed for photos with the group.
Aideen O’Mahoney, the school’s principal, said that the children were "absolutely gobsmacked" by the chance encounter.
“They were absolutely gobsmacked; they just can’t believe it. They have just had an absolutely amazing, amazing morning,” she said to RTÉ News at One.
“It was lovely. It was totally unexpected. It wasn’t planned; there was nothing organised. We just decided to take it on ourselves to come to the hill and maybe just wave a flag.”
Read more: Trump compares post-Brexit Irish border to Mexican wall - says it will work out well
Image: CLOHANES NATIONAL SCHOOL
O’Mahoney also said that Trump talked a little with the children, asking them were they “good at school” and “good to do their work.” The principal then said that he encouraged them to “be good in school and do their work.”
Trump was playing golf at the resort he has owned since 2014 ahead of his scheduled flight back to the US later in the afternoon. He had been in Normandy to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday.
Comments