Meet the Irishman who plans to obliterate Trump’s dream for a ballroom across the pond: ‘There simply isn’t anyone better’

Slightly bigger than the grains of sand it lives among, the vertigo angustior snail is hard to spot, harder still as the species has become threatened by eutrophication and habitat destruction as a result of shoreline developments. Also known as the narrow-mouthed whorl snail, its population has dropped since Trump purchased the resort.

These mollusks are the focal point of a planning appeal filed by Liam Madden, something of a figure across the country. Madden is an architect by trade, but he’s most known for his work in Ireland’s development planning system, using appeals to torpedo development projects across the country.

“I’ve caught them with their pants down,” Madden told the Washington Post.

The Trump Organization uses helicopters to fly guests in and out of the area, with heli landings by the hotel and on the golf course. However, the organization did not consider the helicopters’ ecological effect — particularly its effect on the snails.

Madden wrote in his appeal that the ballroom proposal was, “tainted at law and beyond remedy.”

Liam “Vitruvius Hibernicus” Madden: ‘I’m modest, as well’

In the 90s, if you wanted something built — or not built — you’d go to Madden. This reputation earned Madden the nickname “Condom Man” among developers.

“You’d use him once, and then throw him out,” Irish federal senator Joe Flaherty told the Washington Post.

Filing a planning appeal with Ireland’s planning commission, the An Coimisiún Pleanála, is widely accessible. Madden lives in Longford, a three-hour drive from Doonbeg, yet he can file appeals for developments across the country. His appeal against the ballroom, a preliminary “observation,” cost him 50 euros, holding up its construction for months.

In his email address, Madden calls himself “Vitruvius Hibernicus.” His resume includes objecting to a glass elevator in St. Mel’s Cathedral because it would be problematic for “Scotsmen visiting in their kilts” and challenging MMA fighter Conor McGregor’s boutique hotel.

Madden refers to himself as “the most successful appellant in the history of the Irish state,” according to the Washington Post. “There simply isn’t anyone better,” he said. “I’m modest, as well.”