"It's very frustrating, " says Liam O Cuinneagain, co-ordinator of the Oideas Gael cultural centre in Glencolmcille, one of several business people involved in the campaign. "We're here trying to promote Ireland to the rest of the world and we have to tell tourists they must bring only cash. We live in a cashless society, and nobody wants to carry vast amounts of money on them; it's unsafe. They have ATMs up hills in Mexico, so why can't we get one here?"

Glencolmcille was recently nominated by Rough Guide co-author Geoff Wallis as his favourite Irish destination.

It was second only to isolation in a list of "50 things to love about Ireland", which was published in the Sunday Tribune. O Cuinneagain himself considers the village to be "the most beautiful place on God's green earth, " but says that lacking an ATM is "definitely a downside to our image."

This was confirmed by American tourist, Jennifer Timony from Philadelphia, who was not impressed by the absence of an ATM in the area. After picking up a few souvenirs it wasn't long before she was out of pocket, she told the Sunday Tribune. "I only had 15 on me and that went very fast, " she said.

"We had to skip our lunch today in order to get to the bank."

To accommodate tourists like Timony, Liam O Cuinneagain must make the time consuming bus trip to Killybegs each day. "I try to warn people in advance to take out extra money, but if they end up running out I have a minibus to take them into town. I'm often making that trip a couple of times each day."

The campaigners have repeatedly called on the three banks in Killybegs . . . AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank . . . to install an ATM in Glencolmcille.

"We've contacted all of them, " O Cuinneagain said. "I only heard back from AIB, and they said it was not cost effective enough for them."

Local business people believe that the lack of an ATM is affecting their business. "We need an ATM very, very badly, " said Mary Cunnningham, a B&B owner who has a full house most nights. "We can't get a credit card machine because it's too costly , , it's just not feasible at all." To avoid driving a mile to town and back, some tourists pay by cheque but, said Cunningham, "in this day and age we just can't be accepting them , , it's too dodgy."

AIB's Head of Corporate Relations, Catherine Burke, said the bank believed that "the coverage for the area is appropriate. We have no immediate plans for putting an ATM in Glencolmcille."