There were noisy scenes at Hope Castle in Co Monaghan last night when members of an action group took over a meeting originally called by Monaghan County Council civic trust to discuss a £20m development plan for the castle and the Lough Muckno leisure park at Castleblayney.
A crowd of more than 500 gathered for the meeting, many of whom failed to gain admittance.
Local people object to plans for the building of chalets for sale, and the closure of a gate which prevents vehicular access to the lake shore.
When Monaghan county manager, Mr Joe Gavin, opened the proceedings he objected to a video camera being used and requested it be removed from the hall. His request brought protests from a section of the crowd and there were verbal exchanges before the manager and other officials left the meeting.
Protesters decided to continue with the meeting, which then called for a public inquiry into the Lough Muckno project.
Meanwhile, the Civic Trust announced it would re-convene its meeting in two weeks.
