A 31-year-old Co Mayo publican has criticised the refusal of a town council to grant him planning permission for a nightclub in Westport.
The decision meant that the disco monopoly in place in one of the west of Ireland's busiest tourist towns would continue, Mr Joe O'Malley claimed yesterday.
Westport Town Council has refused planning permission for the proposed nightclub in the Westport Inn Hotel, which Mr O'Malley took over 18 months ago.
The council said the development would materially contravene a previous planning condition and would "injure the amenities'" and "depreciate the value of properties in the vicinity".
There is one nightclub in Westport, at the Castlecourt Hotel.
It attracts up to 5,000 people at weekends, particularly during the busy summer months.
Mr O'Malley had applied for planning permission to change the use of the theatre/function room at the Westport Inn to a function room/nightclub. He said he was "devastated" at the planning refusal.