Major tourist development proposed but local residents are opposed: the story is familiar, and looks destined to become even more commonplace around Ireland's coast as entrepreneurs look to tourism for investment opportunities.
What distinguishes Union Hall from the other such disputes, according to the opponents of local man Gerard O'Mahony's £6.8 million development plan, is that Union Hall already has full all-year round employment and doesn't need the project.
Union Hall, for the uninitiated, is a village in west Cork about eight miles east of Skibbereen, possessed of a fine new pier and a thriving fishing industry, across the harbour from Glandore, where notables such as Tony O'Reilly have holiday homes.
The story so far: earlier this year Mr O'Mahony, a civil engineer with over 20 years' experience in marine and coastal projects, purchased a narrow strip of land along the foreshore at Ballincolla in Union Hall.
His proposal for the site included the construction of a 100-berth marina, a yacht club, a 44-apartment holiday complex as well as a chandlery, dinghy park and storage and a 150-space car-park on the landward side of the new pier.
Mr O'Mahony argued that the proposal would bring significant economic benefits to Union Hall. "Statistics for similar developments show that for every £100 spent for marina berthing, £1,000 is spent onshore locally," he said.
"It would also extend the tourist season. Tourism is going to be the main money-spinner in rural Ireland," he said, adding that up to 40 jobs would be created during the construction phase and 10 permanent jobs when the project was completed and operational.
But the proposal, which would cover around 14 acres (half of it reclaimed land), provoked almost immediate opposition. A Union Hall Residents' Committee was formed and a campaign opened to highlight concerns about the project.
The committee chairwoman, Mr Averil Cooke, explained: "Ours is a traditional fishing village of terraced housing, and apartments would be a dramatic out-of-scale intrusion on the landscape, as well as being totally out of character.
"Gerard O'Mahony plans to build a 44-apartment block on the public foreshore. Is it right that a private individual can create land for development on the public foreshore? It would set a precedent with far-reaching consequences all around Ireland."
The group is also concerned about the car-park, and Ms Cooke pointed out that, as it is, the three narrow twisting roads and one-lane bridge into Union Hall were barely able to cope with present traffic and could not cope with another 150 cars.
The proposal would also seriously damage the village's fishing industry which, according to Ms Cooke, has brought year-round prosperity to the area, with spin-offs in Skibbereen.
"Union Hall has the second-largest pier in west Cork. If a 44-apartment complex is built just 65 metres from it, won't this inhibit, if not prohibit, any future development of the fishing industry in Union Hall? The two are mutually exclusive" she said.
"Our prosperity is based on the fishing industry. The local fleet is being improved next year to the tune of over £38 million. We cannot afford to jeopardise this investment in all our futures by a very seasonal, exclusive, private development."
She added that the other big fear locally was that water sports such as angling, diving, canoeing, dinghy sailing, rowing, swimming and water skiing, all of which now take place free of charge in the harbour, would be privatised if the development went ahead.
The good news for the residents was that the development - at least as originally proposed by Mr O'Mahony - will not go ahead as Cork County Council shared many of the residents' concerns and refused planning permission earlier this month.
THE council cited eight reasons for its refusal, among them the fact that "the development, by reason of its scale and size, on land partly designated for pier extension, would materially contravene the County Development Plan".
It also stressed that the proposal, again by virtue of its size, would be inappropriate for a village as small as Union Hall, adding it would interfere with several scenic views of Glandore Harbour, including those along the coast road from Rosscarbery to Leap.
The council also pointed out that the proposal would create a traffic hazard, put excessive strain on the village's already limited-capacity sewerage system and affect any future extension of the new fishery pier at Keelbeg.
Mr O'Mahony admitted he was disappointed with the council's refusal. "I put a lot of time and money into the project. The reason I bought the land was because it was zoned for development by the council," he said.
"I had a pre-planning meeting with the council. They saw the application for the marina and apartment complex, and at that stage they made no mention of a material contravention of the County Development Plan, so that surprised me."
Mr O'Mahony insisted that the yacht clubhouse, chandlery, dinghy storage and car-parking proposals were all in line with the County Development Plan, while he argued that locating some of the facilities on the foreshore wasn't unusual.
"There's an 80-berth marina and 30-apartment complex being built on reclaimed land on the foreshore in Caherciveen, so there's nothing novel in having a clubhouse on the foreshore," he said.
HE equally vigorously countered suggestions that the project would impact on Union Hall's fishing industry. "According to the County Development Plan, any future pier extension will be east of the new pier. My proposal is to west of the new pier.
"As regards the impact on fishing, marine leisure activities and fishing co-exist comfortably in Kilmore Quay in Wexford, which is a busier fishing port. They both use the same channel in and out there, so I don't see why they can't co-exist here."
He also claimed that up to a further 20 acres in Union Hall had been zoned by the council for development: therefore the council must either be satisfied with the existing infrastructure or believes it can provide additional infrastructure.
Ms Cooke admitted that the residents had no objection to the development of a small marina with some further reclamation to allow inshore developments, such as a chandlery, clubhouse, storage and parking according to the County Development Plan.
"Where we and the County Development Plan differ with the developer is in the nature and scale of the proposed marina. A pontoon would improve access to the water without affecting anyone's view or access and we would have no objection to this."
She also pointed out that the County Development Plan notes that coastal villages like Glandore and Union Hall are attractive locations for tourist developments but have limited scope for tourism projects without being swamped in the process. "All along, we in Union Hall adamantly felt that we did not want to join the ranks of Schull and Baltimore where there's been huge holiday home development, especially when we have full employment all year round here .
"As a committee, we were very pleased that the planning authorities agree with our fears, but we're still concerned that the developer will submit another similar plan, so we propose to monitor the situation."
Meanwhile Mr O'Mahony, who has not to date appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanala, revealed that the council, when refusing him planning permission, suggested that he consider resubmitting the proposal on a reduced scale.
"The council said the scale of the project was excessive, but I don't feel that's the case here. I mean, what's a small marina? To my mind, a 100-berth marina is a small marina nowadays," he said.
"And irrespective of the size of the onshore development, I'm going to have to spend £1.5 million on dredging a channel. That's a considerable expense, so at the moment I'm just reviewing the plan and looking at the options open to me."