Developers planning to build a golf course, a conference centre and 168 houses and apartments at the ancestral home of Lord Leitrim face considerable opposition to the scale of their plans.
An Taisce and Green Party MEP Ms Patricia McKenna have objected to the planned development at Lough Rynn Estate near Mohill. One local couple have also lodged an objection with Leitrim County Council.
Both Duchas and the Heritage Council have been informed of the proposal and are likely to comment on it. In the local area many people believe investment is badly needed and that a price may have to be paid for it.
An Taisce's heritage officer, Mr Ian Lumley, has asked the developers, Capsivale Ltd, to withdraw the application completely, describing it as "fundamentally incompatible with the natural heritage, historical and landscape quality of the site".
Lough Rynn House is a listed building and the development site includes part of two National Heritage Areas at Lough Rynn and Lough Errew.
A magnificent setting, for centuries it was home to the most powerful families in the region. The MacRaghnaill clan built a castle there in the 12th century and held it for over 400 years. The ruins of the castle remain. Lord Leitrim's family, the Clements, took possession in the 1750s and it was still in their ownership until the 1970s.
The house was built in the 19th century but it is not the only building of architectural significance. There is also a series of elegant courtyards and outbuildings designed by Lord Leitrim, William Sydney Clements, who was infamous for his tyranny against tenants.
He took over the estate from his brother in 1839 and ran it until he was eventually killed by some of his tenants in Co Donegal in 1878 at the age of 72. To add to the splendour of the estate at one side of the house three walled gardens descend in steps to the lake edge. The plan would preserve the buildings and gardens.
The people behind Capsivale Ltd are Mr Patrick Doyle, the former owner of a chain of supermarkets and Mr Bertie Hanley, of Laragan Construction, in Elphin. They bought the estate two years ago from an Irish-American, Mr Michael Flaherty, who had opened the house and gardens to the public for a number of years. The planning application seeks to turn the house into a 14-bedroom hotel and add a conservatory, and to convert the stable yard into a conference and equestrian centre.
It also includes a new leisure centre with a 15-metre swimming pool, and the construction of 125 houses. There would also be 43 apartments, 28 of which would be new, while 15 would be in existing outbuildings. The application also includes two jetties on Lough Rynn, 360 car parking spaces and the golf course.
People in Mohill welcome the refurbishment of the house but there are reservations about the number of new houses and apartments, and the golf course. Mr Enda Stenson, an independent councillor, said he believed about 85 per cent of local people supported the plan. People generally accepted the developers' argument that the houses and apartments had to be built to make the project viable.
A member of a local committee which has been trying for years to get a public swimming pool for Mohill, Mr Stenson said they have also been promised that the public would be allowed access to the leisure centre at certain times for public rates.
"Mohill has been a dead, sleepy town where nothing ever happened. There is only one small factory here. People see the estate as the only thing we have to bring people in," Mr Stenson said.
Mr James Madden is a vet who owns one of the outlying houses which once formed part of the estate. He is happy that Lough Rynn House will be open to the public as a hotel, but would prefer if such a large number of houses were not built.
His ideal option would have been for the State to take over the whole property. "If a private owner bought it they might close it up and then nobody could get in. "At least now if someone just buys a bottle of 7 Up they can go in and walk around the gardens and enjoy the ambience. If the houses are the price to pay for that, so be it, but at the same time, we wouldn't want to see too high a price being paid," he said.
Many local people are quietly hoping that the number of houses and apartments will be scaled down as the application goes through the planning process. One local couple have objected to the scale of the development, saying the number of houses is "excessive".
Ms Patricia McKenna said the project did not "respect the character of the site". Concerns have also been raised about who the homes are actually intended for - owner occupiers or investors - as this has not been made clear in the Environmental Impact Statement.
The development would benefit from the Upper Shannon Rural Renewal Tax Scheme which covers all of Co Leitrim.
Mr Lumley insisted that the entire plan should be withdrawn. He said the owners should instead follow the example set in nearby Strokestown House, which has been restored and now incorporates a Famine museum. He said the combination of available funding and the tax scheme should make this feasible.
Mr Lumley said the proposed golf course, with the first fairway located between the front of the house and the lake, was "as intrusive as you could get". The estate was designed with great care given to the location of trees, pathways and views of the lake, he said.
Leitrim County Council said a decision was due next Wednesday. This may have to deferred however because a number of bodies have stopped site visits due to foot-and-mouth disease.