Given that Roche was the minister who came in for stick from planners after he relaxed the rules for one-off housing, he and the planners will no doubt have a lively debate about development outside the capital.

The Irish Planning Insitute wants to spark new thinking on how further village and urbanbased development can be promoted outside Dublin in order to cater for our growing population.

The IPI warmly welcomed the National Spatial Strategy and its planners have been working on ways to encourage development in all the key hubs" and gateways".

This conference features speakers as diverse as Brian O'Brien and Sally Starbuck of the Cloghjordan Eco Village in north Tipperary, who have pioneered new ways of rural living and Brenda Carolan, who will discuss how new building in Sligo sits with the town's important literary and architectural heritage.

There will also be contributions from the Czech Republic and Newry, as well as field trips, including one to the revived Lissadell House and gardens.

The New Initiatives in Urban and Rural Planning" conference takes place next Thursday and Friday 27 and 18 April in the Radisson SAS Hotel in Sligo and over 300 delegates are expected to attend.