Killarney is unique: the tourism hotpoint of the Republic, catering for 1.5 million tourists a year - a total that continues to rise. Now, however, visitors sometimes find that the town does not always live up to its picture postcard image.
At night, finished with sightseeing until tomorrow, tourists want something more urbane until the next day's trek. Killarney has packaged itself to give them just that. It has everything from high-class to down-market accommodation, bars and restaurants.
At every hand's turn developers are transforming the town, to the point that some locals want to cry halt. They say a studied analysis of what's happening is needed before the forces of change in Killarney get out of hand.
There is a question mark over the ability of the town's Urban District Council to cope with the avalanche of planning applications and pressure to allow developers to have their way. Like all local authorities Killarney UDC is underfunded and given the pace of development, its planning section of fewer than four people needs beefing up.
Great natural beauty attracts great numbers of tourists. But is there a price that is too high to pay? Should the town adopt more stringent planning controls? Should a halt be called to further development until the necessary infrastructure is in place?
It's a debate engaging, among others, residents of New Street, arguably the finest heritage street in the town, who wish to protect the heritage given to them by Lord Kenmare in the 1800s when he laid it out like much of the old Killarney that has now vanished.
This week New Street residents like Mr Sean Lucey should know the result of their campaign to prevent what they consider an out-of-character development at No 50. The proposal is to cover the site with a guest house car park and town houses.
The effect, argue the residents who would be directly affected, would be to infringe on their privacy and rob the street of its natural form and shape.
Some houses there have already been surrendered to commercial interests but the latest proposed development would be much larger. In a submission to the UDC the residents asked "not to be boxed in by developers who do their building in town and live out in the country surrounded by green fields".
The submission adds: "We are also concerned about the increasing trend towards demolishing old buildings in town and replacing them with new buildings which do not blend in with the existing streetscape. We would suggest that Killarney should take the lead from towns such as Sneem, Kenmare, Clonakilty, which are making the most of their traditional Irish townscapes, rather than knocking down old buildings in the name of progress only to regret it when it is too late."
Mr Bernie Long of An Taisce in Killarney has compared the level of development to overgrazing on the mountains, except over-grazing in this case is happening in an urban context.
Acquire it and knock it down seems to be the motto in Killarney. But more often than not what replaces old buildings, buildings of character that could and should have been restored, is hideously out of place, says Mr Lucey.
Georgian windows have been replaced by white plastic ones. There are mock facades, imitation stonework and often gaudy signs. The old lanes that were crying out for redevelopment and which could have become an example of urban renewal have disappeared in a welter of plans not in harmony with the natural surrounds.
Things could have been different. The lanes, so much a part of Killarney's character, have been restored but they are now unrecognisable. Where once small terraced houses stood side by side there are now two, three and four-storey buildings cluttered together and quite out of character.
Mr Lucey says that with imaginative planning these lanes could have been brought back to life. The population of Killarney is just under 9,000. In a sense, because of its success, the town is under siege.
There are severe traffic problems and in summer the roads leading to the beauty spots are often jammed. All the momentum has been to develop the town as quickly as possible to cater for the growing tourist numbers.
An Taisce is concerned that the headlong rush to development must not take place in isolation from other issues such as traffic management and that buildings of character must not be sacrificed solely for the sake of generating revenue.
Mr Eamonn Flemming, chairman of An Taisce in Kerry, says the lanes are a case in point. Over-development or development that is not sensitive to its surroundings could wreck the amenity value of one of the main tourist towns in the State.
THE UDC is taking a more vibrant approach to what type of signs may be erected outside shops in the town, but Killarney could still afford to take a lesson from a place like Kilkenny. There is too much clutter, too many signs that are a distraction to the eye rather than pleasing to it. Much of what greets the visitor to Killarney is in bad taste.
Mr Neilus Moriarty, the chairman of Cork Kerry Tourism, worries about projecting a negative image of Killarney. He is keen to project the excellence, as he sees it, of the tourism package available in Killarney, the high standards of food and accommodation, the magnificent scenery. But is there a problem with over-development?
Mr Moriarty concedes that it is time for all the interests in the town to get together in a forum to examine the nature of the infrastructural needs.
"Killarney is one of the jewels in Irish tourism. Of course we have our problems and we must address them. That's why I'm calling for all the various sectors involved in tourism as well as the townspeople and planners to come together and debate what our needs for the future are."
Ms Kathleen O'Regan-Sheppard, speaking for registered guest-house owners in the town, feels the only solution is to call a moratorium on further tourism-related development, pending the development of the necessary infrastructure. Too many cars on the Ring of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula are having a negative effect on the region, she says. "There are times when these roads are completely choked. We will have to address the traffic problem and until we have done so, we have to stop further development."
One of the problems she identifies is the exemption from planning granted to home owners in 1994 which allowed them to use rooms in their homes for bed and breakfast purposes. This has led to the creation of almost 200 "approved" smaller B&Bs in the town and an escalation in property prices that almost matches Dublin. In contrast to the approved guest-houses, there are only 24 registered guest-houses. They must conform to the full planning laws before being certified for business.
"The way property prices have gone most houses are now out of reach for the average person. My view is that the planning regulations granting the exemption should be repealed. If that doesn't happen, prices will just keep on rising," she adds.
But Ms O'Regan-Sheppard's call for a halt to development comes at a time when quite the opposite is happening.
There are plans for three new hotels in the town, including a Holiday Inn and almost every other existing hotel there is extending. This will lead to the creation of at least 400 new bedrooms within the space of a year, giving it the capability to cater for anything up to an additional 1,000 people a night.
Ms Mary McBride of the Killarney Looking Good Organisation doesn't agree that things are as bad as some people claim and points out that last year it won its category in the Tidy Towns competition. "I think Killarney is developing very well," she insists.
Killarney may be at a crossroads. The pace of development reflects both the healthy state of the economy and the town's location. Any summer visitor knows what it's like on the roads leading to those beauty spots in the height of season. Now seems to be the time to tackle the town's problems.