The group has tentative agreements in place to buy 600 acres of property from local families and farmers.

The project, according to a consultant working for the organisation, will need at least 800 acres, but the group wants to buy 1,000 acres of property.

The site, which is outside of Dublin Airport's operational airspace and has access to existing highway infrastructure, said the developers, provides airlines with a “genuine alternative to Dublin Airport” at a much-reduced cost.

Wicklow County Council, however, stated that it has not yet heard anything on the plans.

A suggestion of this nature has been proposed previously.

Plans supported by industrialist Pascal Taggart in 2010 called for Arklow to develop into a major international transportation hub. Members of Wicklow County Council enthusiastically embraced the notion of an international airport, as reported at the time by The Irish Times.