ENVIRONMENT Minister Dick Roche has ordered that work be stopped on the controversial M3 motorway near the Hill of Tara, because of the discovery of an important national monument right in its path.
Just 24 hours after Transport Minister Martin Cullen turned the sod on the €850m Meath road project, tools have been downed after archaeologists discovered a pre-Christian site in the Tara/Skreen Valley.
The large circular enclosure, about the size of three football fields, is clearly visible and was probably used for rituals in the Iron Age or Bronze Age.
Yesterday, Environment Minister Dick Roche said he was consulting with the National Museum after the National Monuments Service inspected the site.
The discovery of the first national monument along the M3 route is vindication for opponents of the motorway who claimed it should have been rerouted to avoid the Hill of Tara and risk damaging the country's richest archaeological landscape.
The National Museum had also opposed the route.
Yesterday, the Department of the Environment confirmed that during the course of excavations two circular enclosures were found with evidence of an entrance and passageway from the outer enclosure to the inner enclosure.
"The monument has been heavily truncated by ploughing in the past and the surviving features are shallow and fragile," a statement said.
"No works which would interfere with the monument may be carried out, except works urgently required to secure its preservation, carried out in accordance with measures specified by the minister."
But the statement added: "The minister is advised the surviving elements of the monument are extremely fragile, underlining the need for an early decision on how to proceed."
Yesterday, the Campaign to Save Tara said it was "jubilant" at the find, adding surveys carried out as part of the route selection process for the M3 should have found the artefact.
"It had been the Save Tara Campaign that first alerted the National Museum to the potential significance of the Lismullen site, which is within 100 metres of the Rath Lugh monument and directly within the path of the proposed motorway," spokesman Michael Canny said.
"The Lismullen site had not been accurately identified during the initial archaeological survey of the route and the discovery of a henge, almost 80 metres in diameter and comprising of two concentric circles, caused surprise to the archaeological contractor and near-apoplexy at the National Roads Authority."
Another group, Tarawatch, said it was 'legally incumbent' on the minister to halt works, place a preservation order on the site, and reroute the M3 motorway like he did in Waterford in 2005 when he rerouted the N25 to avoid a large Viking site in Woodstown.
It is understood the director of the National Museum, Pat Wallace, will respond to the minister on the submission from the National Monuments Service by the end of this week.
The National Roads Authority said that it would meet all its statutory requirements and was liaising with the department and the National Museum.
Paul Melia and Elaine Keogh
Irish Independent
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