Many Irish hill-walkers are familiar with perhaps the most beautiful part of the Slieve Bloom mountains, the Glendine Gap, on the shoulder of Arderin mountain.
Arderin, at 1,735 feet, provides a view of 15 counties. Those who named it "The Height of Ireland" were clearly enthralled by the vista. Down the ages, so have others.
Apart from that, it has the Gap Waterfall tumbling down the side of Arderin.
But until recently it was quite a task to get to the gap, and it was only when a new road was built by Laois County Council that access was possible for those who find walking difficult.
Now the treasures of the area are to be enhanced by the Slieve Bloom Rural Development Association, which has come up with an ambitious plan to make Glendine and Arderin even more attractive.
The plan involves creating an acre-sized lake on the Killeen river stocked with trout, and picnic and other facilities around the lake.
The development association hopes it will get permission to develop a campsite there and beside it a deer park where visitors can see the animals in an environment as close as possible to the wild.
The plan's final part will provide facilities at the waterfall itself so it can be visited by everyone, including the handicapped.
Outlining the plan earlier this week, the society spokesman, Mr Ivan Shepherd, said that above all the society wanted to make sure that any development in the area was of the highest quality.
"For instance, we want to try to stock the lake with native brown trout rather than rainbow trout, if this is possible," he said.
"The local fisheries board is carrying out tests on water quality, and if it can be done that is what we will do. There is nothing new about the plan to create a lake up there because there was a proposal to do something like this some years ago," he said.
"We are proposing a much smaller venture with emphasis on quality and the use of local materials. The society has been involved in other developments like the gite holiday-home idea, and a lot of the work was carried out by FAS.
"We are hoping that this will continue because of the job-creation potential but also because the quality of the work carried out by FAS is unbelievably high. It is very pleasing that the skills being taught to young people are, if you like, local skills. They are being taught to use local materials, and this is very important."
He estimated that the whole project will cost about £150,000, and the society has made an application to the LEADER II rural development group in Laois to help with funding.
"We are hoping to make this area, which is one of the most beautiful places not only in the midlands but also in the country, available to anyone who wants to come here.
"We want to share what we have with people from outside the area and, in generating tourism, we hope to keep people in the area which has been badly hit by the decline in farming."