Hundreds of residents in Ballybunion, Co Kerry, will stage a walk at 2 p.m. tomorrow in support of a multi-million euro hotel development on the seafront in the the town.
The hotel development is under appeal to An Bord Pleanála and is being proposed by a former mayor of San José, California, Mr Tom McEnery.
He is credited with revitalising the industrial and conference heart of the US city on the edge of Silicon Valley.
The €25 million 107-bedroom, four-storey over basement, Ballybunion Beach Hotel includes a bar, restaurant and car-parking on the site of the former Castle Hotel.
Mr McEnery is a third-generation Californian businessman whose ancestors came from north Kerry. He paid £500,000 for the site in the mid-1990s and has spent around €2 million on the project.
Mr McEnery has twice been mayor of San José. From 1983 to 1990, he spearheaded the rebuilding of the city's abandoned downtown.
He is also the author of a book called City-State: Change and Renewal in America's cities which hearkens back to classical Greece and argues for a mayor rather than management-led system of city and town government.
Mr McEnery has held a number of consultations with residents. Shortly before Christmas the development was granted permission by Kerry County Council with 34 conditions. However, it has now been appealed to An Bord Pleanála by The Castle Green Preservation Group. They are concerned about the size of the project and say it is not appropriate for Ballybunion.
A majority of people in the town are in favour of the development, Ms Kerry Harty-Beauseigneur, spokeswoman for the pro-hotel group said yesterday.
Ballybunion, well-known for its links golf course, and its statue of former president Bill Clinton unveiled during his visit five years ago, is being by-passed, she said. The new development would bring retail and other developments to the town.
Some 500 people have signed a petition in support. A four-star hotel in Ballybunion would add prestige to the town, she said. "We are very worried as a town. This development is needed for the tone of the town and its future direction."