Wexford TD Slams Government Over Lack of IDA Visits to Wexford

A Wexford TD has slammed claims that Donald Trump is to blame for the county's lack of IDA visits, calling the suggestion "bizarre at best."

The comments follow a front-page report in The PeopleNewspaper this week highlighting Minister Peter Burke’s remarks linking the low IDA engagement with the former US administration. Deputy George Lawlor has described the explanation as "ludicrous," pointing out that County Wexford received just 41 out of 5,302 total IDA visits over nine years. Speaking to South East RadioNews, he criticised the government, particularly Fine Gael, for what he sees as a decade-long neglect of Wexford's investment potential Deputy Lawlor described it as unacceptable and said it reflects how the government and in particular Fine Gael has treated Wexford over the past decade. He said it is wrong to blame former US President Donald Trump for the lack of investment visits. He pointed out that Minister Peter Burke's own county of Westmeath received 235 visits during the same period and that Waterford had 163. He said Wexford is one of the counties with the lowest number of visits per head of population and believes this shows a lack of ambition from government. Lawlor added that Wexford has the infrastructure the workforce and the potential to attract investment but is not being supported. He also highlighted the importance of progressing the long-awaited third-level campus for the county which he believes is key to future investment. When asked about current US tariffs and their impact on foreign investment he agreed that it is now a challenge across Ireland but said that issue has only emerged in recent months. He added that the government must do more to support both foreign and local investment and committed to continuing to raise these concerns as Labour’s enterprise spokesperson. [audio wav="https://www.southeastradio.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TRUMPIDAGEORGELAWLOR.wav"][/audio]