The planning dispute in south Tipperary over a proposed waste treatment plant is not quite a traditional case of the "little guy" battling "big business" to save the environment.
Two titans of Tipperary and national business life are squaring up for a showdown.
Discreetly leading the opposition is billionaire tycoon John Magnier, who owns Coolmore Stud and Ballydoyle Stables - regarded as among the world's most successful racehorse breeding and training centres.
Mr Magnier and his trainer Aidan O'Brien declined to speak to The Irish Timesbut a spokesman for Coolmore said both men "fully support" the South Tipperary for Clean Industry campaign.
The project's backers include businessman Louis Ronan - a cousin of Treasury Holding's property billionaire Johnny Ronan. Mr Ronan owns Enfer, the biotechnology company which has developed testing kits for BSE and also sponsors the Tipperary hurling team. He was chosen as Tipperary Man of the Year 2007. Mr Ronan also controls Avglade, one of the companies behind Green Organics Energy Ltd, which is hoping to build the facility.
Green Organics Energy Ltd is a joint venture backed by three Irish companies: Dawn Meats, one of Europe's biggest privately-owned food processing companies; Bioverda, the "sustainable energy" unit of conglomerate NTR - the company which also owns National Toll Roads and Greenstar, a waste management company.
Avglade, is the "holding company" of National By-Products which operated a rendering plant on the site at Castleblake for over 40 years until it closed in 2004.