Remarkably, it's the seventh hotel acquired by the group since it was set up three years ago. The company operates its various properties around the country under lease purchase and management contracts. It has created 650 jobs, including those in the Kinsale hotel, through investment totalling 150m.

The 120-bedroom Kinsale hostelry features 20 luxury garden suites, one of the finest leisure clubs in the south of Ireland, and the first dedicated 'C' spa in Co Cork town.

The leisure club, overlooking the bay has a 20-metre deck level swimming area, which includes 12 underwater massage features. Also included are a jacuzzi, sauna, steam room, a children's pool and a fully equipped gymnasium. The spa includes 10 treatment rooms and a dedicated relaxation room.

It's hard though to imagine group managing director Michael Kearney finding time to indulge himself in any of the extravagant attractions afforded by his latest acquisition. Already he's plotting the further expansion of the group, including a move into the UK market where he plans to establish hostelries in a number of strategically important urban centres.

"We're at that advanced stage in negotiations where it's impossible to be to specific, except to say that we're looking at places like Birmingham, Manchester and London, " he said.

Never a man to rest on his laurels, the Claregalway, Co Galway-born entrepreneur is relishing the prospect of further expanding his portfolio.

He believes cracking the UK market will prove a particularly onerous challenge.

"It's much more difficult in the UK to create destination hotels. The primary challenge would be that you're looking at a business position, one hundred per cent. There are no capital allowances over there, so it comes down to a matter of sink or swim on the tradability of the project.

"Essentially you're looking at downtown regenerationtype projects in places like central London and Liverpool, where the bedroom stock has deteriorated. We're coming on the scene with high-end, four star facilities that, hopefully, will take the market."

Kearney puts his company's success and rapidly rising profile down to the fact that his management team deals only with experienced professionals in every aspect of business.

"We only deal with people who've done it before. There's nobody coming into our team who's a learner.

"I'm talking about every single facet of the operation - legal, accountancy, QS, engineers, whatever. Nobody's at the table who hasn't done it before. We're not giving anybody the comfort of a learning curve at our expense."

Meanwhile, he regards the potential for expansion within the home market as far from exhausted. "We're looking at Waterford, we're looking at Limerick and we're looking at Killarney. And we have our eye on Belfast and another location in the North."

The group's first hotel was the Eur15 million Millrace Hotel in Bunclody, Co Wexford, which opened its doors in 20004.

Since then Kearney has acquired the Atlantic Coast Hotel in Westport, Co Mayo;

the Abbey Hotel in Athy, Co Kildare; the Redcastle Hotel in Moville, Co Donegal and the Strandhouse Hotel at the Curragh in Kildare. In June, the Eur 30 million Carlton Dublin Airport Hotel opened for business.

Kearney says he's particularly proud of his latest acquisition - the first new hostelry built in Kinsale since 1963.

"For us, it's our southern gem. As a tourism destination, Kinsale would traditionally have seen itself fall away for anything up to six months every year. We're trying to create an all-yearround facility. So we see it as enhancing tourism and leisure pursuits in the area.

"One of the primary input drives for us would be to access the low cost fare scenario into Cork airport, both out of Dublin and out of the UK."