Almost 4,000 square metres of carpet, 2,500 light fixtures, 1,500 rolls of wallpaper and nearly three miles of coving went into the making of Johnstown House Hotel and Spa, the developers said when the complex opened last August.

Created around a 17th century rural Georgian residence in Co Meath, it cost £1 million (€1.27 million) alone to landscape the grounds while each of the 124 rooms was fitted with under-floor heating and walk-in power showers.

But Lark Developments, the major investor in the luxury hotel, conference and spa complex, is counting the cost.

The company's two directors, Mr Anthony Murray and Ms Fionna Murray, are in little doubt that its foray into the hotel sector is at the root of the company's difficulties.

"Had Lark never invested in Johnstown in the first place. . . the financial position would have been such that Lark would have continued to be able to pay all of its debts as they fell due and would have been able to continue trading profitably in respect of its other residential, commercial and industrial development projects," the directors said in their High Court petition yesterday.

To date, the company has sunk £14 million into the Johnstown complex and it is not yet completed.

However, the hotel investment alone could not have brought the company to its knees.

A number of crucial planning decisions also went against the company.

Fingal County Council refused planning permission for its 18-acre site beside the M50, scuppering the proposed sale of half of those lands, which would have gone some way to offsetting its investment in the hotel.

The rezoning of 17 acres of agricultural land outside Maynooth for residential use was also unexpectedly delayed.

Meanwhile, the company suffered another setback when the rezoning of 250 acres, owned by Lark Properties at Clonee in Co Meath, for a business park was rejected earlier this year.

There was significant local concern about issues such as traffic and flooding, and the rezoning was rejected for not complying with the Strategic Planning Guidelines for the greater Dublin area.