Leader II was launched in 1995 as a European initiative to encourage local rural development projects. The conversion of farm outbuildings is only one of many enterprises considered under the rural tourism category of Leader II - there are five other categories of funding which include agriculture, forestry and fisheries, training and recruitment and small firms and craft enterprises.

Any rural dweller or rural community group has been eligible to apply for a Leader II grant to restore an old building, although farmers looking for alternative sources of income have been in the majority. And while many have opted to diversify into tourism, some, like one man in Co Dublin who is set to open a butterfly farm in a converted outhouse, have other ideas.

Leader II has been administered throughout the country through a network of 34 local action groups and three sectoral bodies - Irish Country Holidays, Irish Farmhouse Holidays and Muintir na Tire.

Applicants have to conduct detailed research to convince the Leader board of the soundness of their business or development proposals. For those refurbishing outbuildings, planning permission is also required. If successful, the level of grants awarded depends on the nature of the project but tend to be in the region of 30 per cent for outbuilding conversion.

Leader II expires in June this year but there are plans for another Leader initiative, called Leader Plus, from March next year, which is expected to be supplemented by the National Rural Development Programme.