At Thursday night's meeting, the members of Buncrana Town Council heard the "half-Derry, half-Buncrana" man who has been based at the Nerve Centre for ten years outline his "holistic approach" to developing the fort.

"Museums are grand in big cities, but not so likely to succeed in rural areas. You need to offer a rounded programme and have other streams of revenue. We can create not just another visitor centre here, but a model for all Irish visitor centres in the future."

Mr Coyle's proposed developments include: a small, easily maintained aquarium displaying the local habitats and fish of Lough Swilly; utilisation and development of existing trails and nature walks such as Stragill beach and Swan's Park; multi-media displays with "wireless live cam" links to wildlife habitats and nests (buzzards and long-eared owls are in the area); historical viewers in which live views of Lough Swilly are mixed with a video stream of archive images; education centre for local schools; facilities for visiting bird and wildlife watchers including trained guides with viewing scopes; a cafe and rest point.

If such facilities were in place, he argued, it would be possible to offer a range of activities that would be "second to none". These would include: guided nature and historical walks and tours; digital wildlife photography and film-making; digital audio capture; rock pool rambles; bird-watching, using the existing Sea Safari service for marine wildlife tours; tailor-made workshops and classes and temporary exhibitions such as the Harry Swann 1984 National Museum of Ireland exhibition.

"It would be essential to consider not just the fort itself, but the whole plan."

Mr Coyle then outlined the findings of preliminary marketing research he had carried out, which he says shows the potential viability of such a centre.

"Recent research shows that of all the people in the UK who go on-line to transact business, 51% are making travel arrangements or booking a holiday," he said.

Last year's UK internet spend, he added, was £38bn and this is expected to rise to £83.5 by 2010.

All of the councillors present voiced their approval of the proposals, followed by queries as to what the next step should be.

Mr Coyle said that he was open to all potential variations, and that the next step would be to draw up a feasibility study and business plan to indicate the business arrangement that would be most likely to succeed.

"I have no great prescriptive course here.