Developers have been given the go-ahead for a 15-storey hotel at the main entrance to Sligo town, despite objections from residents, business people and environmentalists.
Sligo County Council gave permission to Galway-based developers Glenman Corporation to build the 144-bedroom hotel with leisure and conference facilities and 332 parking spaces at Carraroe, two miles from the town centre on the Dublin road.
The council laid down a number of conditions, including that the builders pay €500,000 for sewerage, water supply services and footpaths.
Objectors included local residents, businesses, An Taisce and the National Roads Authority.
An appeal to An Bord Pleanála is being considered.
Mr Pádraig Gorman, chairman of the Carraroe Development Committee, said: "We would welcome every type of development: hotel, office block, retail park. Nothing is excluded.
"But we ask that they be built outwards rather than up. Cut down the heights," Mr Gorman said.
Other applications with the council for the area include plans for a 10-storey office block and a warehouse/office complex.