LONDON (AFP) - US tycoon Donald Trump is setting his sights on Northern Ireland after his plans to build a luxury golf complex in Scotland were knocked back, his top adviser said Thursday.
George Sorial, Trumps head of international development, said the 61-year-old billionaire had already negotiated an option to buy a sizeable chunk of land in the province.
Sorial was to arrive in Northern Ireland later Thursday for a two-day fact-finding mission. He was to tour four potential sites on Friday.
Trumps bid to site his one-billion-pound (two-billion-dollar, 1.4-billion-euro) golfing resort on the Scottish east coast near Aberdeen were scuppered when a local council committee rejected them.
"Northern Ireland is very much on our horizon now," said Sorial, before travelling to Belfast later in the day.
"I came here before, three weeks ago, but we kept that below the radar. I am now coming back to look more closely at some options."
Northern Irelands First Minister Ian Paisley met Trump during a visit to New York in December and the pair discussed the possibility of bringing the golf complex to the province.
Sorial said Trump was impressed with what Paisley had to say.
"Investing in Northern Ireland is now something we are eager and enthusiastic about," he said.
"Ive been there and seen it and its a beautiful country.
"Weve now enacted an open agreement on a significant piece of land and weve got six months to decide whether we want to take up that option."
Northern Ireland is keen to boost its tourism and economy following the end of sectarian bloodshed and the restoration of a power-sharing government.
A source close to Paisleys office said Sorial would be undertaking preliminary investigations Friday.
"Nothing has been agreed and this is very much an exploratory trip but if Donald Trump is going to invest in Northern Ireland he would certainly be welcome," the source said.
"That would represent a huge boost to the economy and would prove the worth of the (Paisley) trip to America."
Scotlands First Minister Alex Salmond is reportedly fuming at Aberdeenshire councils rejection of Trumps project. The Scottish Executive is conducting an inquiry into the decision.
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