Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has received criticism after revealing he helped President Donald Trump resolve a planning issue four years ago.
Mr Varadkar, who at the time was the Irish tourism minister, said he spoke to Clare County Council about a planning application for a wind farm close to Doonbeg golf resort.
The resort was purchased by Mr Trump in 2014.
The planning application was refused.
Mr Trump tweeted about the decision in 2014 and said it was "great news from Ireland - Clare County Council turned down a massive wind farm near my hotel & golf course in Doonbeg".
Mr Varadkar discussed his role in resolving the dispute on Thursday, while in Washington DC for traditional St Patrick's Day celebrations.
At first he thought it was his staff playing a joke when told that Donald Trump was on the line. Mr Trump was worried that plans for the wind farm would affect the tourist numbers in the area.
"I endeavoured to do what I could do about it," said Mr Varadker.
"I rang the county council and inquired about the planning permission and subsequently the planning permission was declined and the wind farm never built, thus the landscape had been preserved.
"And the president has very kindly given me credit for that, although I do think it would have been refused anyway, but I'm very happy to take credit for it, if the president is going to offer it to me."
Clare County Council has said it does not have any record or recollection of Mr Varadkar making an inquiry about a planning application for a proposed wind farm four years ago.
The council said it decided to refuse the planning application on 8 October 2014, a decision that was upheld by the Irish planning appeals board.
A spokesperson for the taoiseach (Irish prime minister) said the minister had asked his office to make an inquiry as to the status of application and that it was "normal work of a minister's office".
Politicians in the Republic of Ireland have condemned Mr Varadkar's actions.
Sinn Féin's justice spokesperson Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said: "I cannot fathom how an taoiseach would almost brag about a story where he rang a local council as a government minister to make representations on behalf of an American billionaire businessman."
Green Party leader Eamon Ryan accused Mr Varadkar of having "privately interfered in the planning process" while Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin said the intervention was extraordinary and inappropriate.
The Green Party described the call as a shocking error of judgement while Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin said the intervention was extraordinary and inappropriate.
Mr Varadkar is visiting the US ahead of St Patrick's Day on Saturday.
He met with President Trump in the White House on Thursday and, later, presented the president with a bowl of shamrocks as part of the traditional celebrations.
During the ceremony, the taoiseach said the Irish government would continue to work with the US government to find a solution to the issue of undocumented Irish people in the US.
He also said that "the United States has helped build modern Ireland, one that is prosperous and at peace, self-confident about our place in the world".
