Iunderstand that planning permission to build a house in Ballycastle,
Co. Mayo in Ireland(Eire) (ballycastle is on the coast) may be
difficult to get. I have located a site and need to apply for planning
permission to build the houseto Mayo county council based at Ballina Co. Mayo.
Do you have specific information that might make the
proccess/application more likely to be successful
proccess/application more likely to be successful

There are different categories for planning considerations in rural
Ireland, but the most applicable are (very much simplified)...
Category 1) Within 1km of a town boundary (as a rough guide, this is
where the 30mph speed limit signs are placed. Category 1 applications
will usually succeed, as long as you are not trying to build something
that will not fit in with the 'streetscape'.
Category 2) This is the category that most 'rural single dwellings'
fall into. To fit the terms for Cat2, you have to prove that you
already own the land (or it is within your immediate family), it will
be your main family home, and you will be resident in Ireland. I
believe there may also be restrictions on selling the property once it
is completed.

There are other categories, but they get more difficult as the
category index increases. Other headline matters include: You cannot
build a house where any part of it will protrude above the horizon
when seen from any main scenic area or tourist road. You cannot build
a house between a coast road and the sea (or tourism route and scenic
view).

The best advice I can offer is that we were very glad that we gave our
application to our architect. When they know what will pass and what
will fail, you can incorporate this knowledge into both your build and
your application. They documented every feature of our house with
photographic evidence from similar buildings within the surrounding
district, and by the time the application was made, our file was over
1" thick. This is because, just like in law, most planning is only
granted if a precedent has already been set - if you are applying for
something out of the ordinary, then you will most likely fail, as, to
grant it may open the floodgates for similar applications.

We had been told we were crazy to pay someone to apply on our behalf,
but those who said that did not know anyone that had received planning
permission within 2 to 3 years of applying, and as well as this all
had been forced to change the appearance of their dream homes to suit
the whim of the planners. Our application was approved first time
round with no structural changes to the house (there was a position
move of a couple of feet), within 10 weeks. Our application was in
2003 and the house is now being built.

Hope this has been of some help.