Dennis Lehane, the world renowned writer behind The Wire, Mystic River and Shutter Island, has said it will break his heart if his American adaptation of Love/Hate doesn't go ahead.

Lehane was in the Irish Writer’s Centre this evening when he spoke about his desire to remake the RTE hit show in a US setting.

The show will air on the Showtime network, and will be set in “gritty Hawaii that tourists don't see”, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Lehane, whose parents emigrated to the US from Ireland, said he initially thought the project would be unworkable, until he discovered the Hawaiin town of Oahu. Sending a connection between the area and the Dublin of Stuart Carolan’s series, Lehane decided the series could work, if set on the Pacific island.

"Nobody knows this Ireland, that's the appeal (of Love/Hate)," he said, Joe.ie report.

"We thought you were sitting around by the hearth, drinking Guinness and singing Danny Boy. This is Trainspotting meets GoodFellas. I said, ‘you can't do this in America.’”

Love/Hate is my one true love. If it doesn't go forward, it'll break my heart - Dennis Lehane

— Irish Writers Centre (@IrishWritersCtr) May 28, 2015

"I went past this part of Hawaii called Oahu, which is really poor. It's been completely displaced. Poverty's crazy, drug abuse is crazy, and I went, "that's Love/Hate!"

"It works. When I pitched it, people went crazy. Either we're going to be greenlit in the next two months (or it's not going to happen),” he added.

Lehane joined the writing staff of The Wire – perhaps the most critically lauded crime drama in TV history – in the third season, winning numerous awards over the next three years. Some of his most well known novels have included Shutter Island, Gone Baby Gone and Mystic River.