Ireland will lose out on major conventions, exhibitions, significant employment and revenue following a decision by An Bord Pleanála to reject a plan for a conference centre at Citywest in Dublin, the property tycoon behind the plan has claimed.
He also said judicial review proceedings against a previous decision by the board to withhold permission will be "vigorously pursued".
On Monday, An Bord Pleanála rejected a €50 million plan from Jim Mansfield to develop a convention centre at his Citywest Hotel complex near Saggart.
The board ruled that because the 6,000-seat centre would be "reliant primarily on private transport", it would contravene the policies set out in the regional planning guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area to reduce the growth in demand for transport.
In a statement yesterday, Mr Mansfield said there was no logic or common sense to the decision. "Ireland will lose out on major conventions and exhibitions of the scale proposed and for which there is a market because of this decision.
"Significant employment and revenue to the national and local economy will now be lost."
He argued that Citywest was not "remote from public transport infrastructure" as the board had said. "It will be approximately 100 metres from a Luas stop, it has an excellent public bus network and it is close to one of the country's major road arteries which is a gateway to nearly two-thirds of Ireland."
