An Bord Pleanála has given consent to Kerry County Council to compulsorily acquire the disused Dingle boatyard.
There were a number of objections to the council's proposal to acquire the 0.18-hectare site which has been the subject of long years of legal wrangling.
However, the planning board consented to the council's application to acquire the disused boatyard and slipway, a prominent site beside Dingle Harbour and the bust of former taoiseach Charles Haughey, under the Derelict Sites Act 1990.
It ruled the site's current condition detracted "to a material degree" from the appearance of the harbour because of its neglected, unsightly and objectionable condition.
The site has been on the council's derelict sites register since December 2004.
"It is also considered that the acquisition by the local authority of the derelict site in question is necessary in order to prevent the lands from continuing to be a derelict site," the board ruled.
Two parties strongly objected to the council's proposal, claiming to own or to have agreed to purchase the site.