The US-owned Ogden Group's £200 million scheme for the disused Phoenix Park racecourse in west Dublin in the mid-1990s was one of the largest and most controversial development proposals to come before the planning system.
Marketed as the Sonas Centre ("sonas" being the Irish word for happiness or well-being), it was to include a 65,000-seat stadium, a 12,000-seat indoor arena, a 2,500-seat national conference centre and a 349-bedroom hotel.
By far the most contentious element of the proposal was a casino which would have been the largest in Europe. The Englishman behind the venture, Norman Turner, described it as the "financial engine" of the scheme.
In partnership with Robert White, who went to school with Bertie Ahern, Mr Turner had been trying to advance the pro ject since 1993 when they agreed to buy the racecourse from its owner, a consortium controlled by J.P. McManus, Vincent O'Brien and Robert Sangster.
Mr Turner and Mr White had every reason to believe that their project was a real runner. At the time, Bord Failte regarded a casino as an attractive addition to Ireland's tourism facilities. The developers were also encouraged in their endeavours by the Taoiseach at the time, Albert Reynolds.
However, they did not anticipate that their scheme would run into relentless opposition from residents of the area.
The initial plans, drawn up by US architects Ellerbe Beckett, who had randomly distributed the various buildings, including a 25-storey hotel, around the 105-acre site, had to be withdrawn in 1994 after no fewer than 20,000 objections were lodged with Fingal County Council.
Even after the proposals had been refined and improved by Dublin architects Burke-Kennedy Doyle and Partners, the developers failed to persuade the normally pro-development council to adopt a material contravention of the "open space and recreation" zoning of the site.
Under pressure from the West Dublin Action Group, a coalition of residents' associations, the council rejected any change in the zoning, with some Fianna Fail and Fine Gael councillors voting in favour and others against.
Though the Sonas plan had been warmly recommended by the then county manager, Davy Byrne, the council's decision gave him no option but to refuse planning permission on zoning grounds, leaving the developers to take their case to An Bord Pleanala.
After a week-long oral hearing, the appeals board granted planning permission for the entire scheme, including the casino, on May 2nd, 1996. What swayed the board was its "macro-economic impact" and the number of jobs, an estimated 2,000 full-time and 1,000 part-time.
That night Brian Cowen TD, then a Fianna Fail frontbencher, attended a celebration party at the Conrad Hotel, hosted by Robert White, for all the consultants on the project. No other politician was present.
When I put it to Mr White that Sonas still needed to obtain a casino licence and the rainbow coalition government had shown no willingness to grant one, he smiled, saying: "But what about the next government?"
Harry Shiels, chairman of the West Dublin Action Group, recalls that he had "no trouble" in persuading the taoiseach, John Bruton, to give a commitment that the Gaming and Lotteries Act would not be amended to allow a casino. But Bertie Ahern was a different matter.
Realising the strength of opposition in Dublin West, where Fianna Fail needed to win two seats in the 1997 general election, Mr Ahern told the Dail just before the election was called that there "will be no casino, as proposed, for the Phoenix Park racecourse site".
Fianna Fail's clarification of its stance was welcomed by the West Dublin Action Group, with Mr Shiels declaring his confidence that that would be the end of it. Mr Ahern's statement was also welcomed by the party's TDs for Dublin West, Liam Lawlor and Brian Lenihan.
Mr Lenihan, son of the late tanaiste, told constituents it was now clear that "in no circumstances will Fianna Fail in government enact legislation to permit the development of a casino". ail on Wednesday,
Mr Lawlor said he had "resolutely articulated" his opposition to the casino, though he made no mention of his recent claim that Des Richardson had offered him £100,000 to act as a consultant on the Sonas project.
In 1997 the Government held a competition for the National Conference Centre, marketing it as "Project Ireland".
P.J. Mara, government press secretary during the Haughey era, who had set up as a public affairs and lobbying consultant, was engaged by the Sonas Centre developers to advance their cause. In the end, the contract was awarded to the Spencer Dock consortium, led by Treasury Holdings.
Mr Turner and Mr White still managed to make a great deal of money from their investment in the Phoenix Park site. Having agreed to buy it in 1993 for about £10 million, they sold it in 1998 for a reported £35 million to developers Flynn and O'Flaherty.
The Sonas Centre saga has now been included as a planning case study in the Junior Cert civics programme. It is dealt with as an example of how ordinary people can take on powerful forces - and win.