CAMPAIGNERS who lost a lengthy court battle to reroute the controversial M3 motorway are seeking legal advice over reports on the archaeological heritage in the area.
The TaraWatch group, led by Vincent Salafia, have asked lawyers to look into whether a High Court ruling backing the road may be struck out.
The Sixth World Archaeological Congress, which began in Dublin yesterday, is examining a report by an expert who assessed the significance of historical sites along the M3 route in Co Meath.
It has questioned archaeological findings which paved the way for work to begin on the road. "Legal advice is immediately being sought,'' Mr Salafia said. "There may be a possibility of vacating the judgment or, at a minimum, suing for damages."
The High Court ruled in 2005 that none of the 38 areas examined before construction on the road began were national monuments and that the wider area around the Hill of Tara could not be considered a single national monument.
TaraWatch will this week meet officials from the UNESCO group as it continues its campaign to have the Hill of Tara and surrounding lands declared a World Heritage Site.
Ed Carty
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Showing posts with label save tara. Show all posts
Showing posts with label save tara. Show all posts
Monday, 30 June 2008
Sunday, 13 April 2008
M3 'won't derail' Tara heritage bid
THE Hill of Tara can become a UNESCO World Heritage site -- even with a motorway running alongside it.
International experts have told Environment Minister John Gormley that the controversial M3 motorway under construction should not stop Ireland's richest archaeological site from joining the Acropolis, Vatican City and Taj Mahal as having "outstanding universal value".
Mr Gormley is to recommend that the Tara Skryne Valley in Co Meath be awarded World Heritage status, and will shortly undertake a conservation plan which will stop any future commercial development in the valley.
It is likely that one-off housing applications will be considered, but shopping centres, large-scale housing estates and other commercial developments will not be allowed.
Addressing the International Council on Monuments and Sites last night, Mr Gormley said that Dr Jukka Jokilehto did not see the motorway as excluding the Co Meath site from attaining world heritage status.
"I find his remarks very encouraging and it is my view that this site would be a contender for possible World Heritage site."
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
International experts have told Environment Minister John Gormley that the controversial M3 motorway under construction should not stop Ireland's richest archaeological site from joining the Acropolis, Vatican City and Taj Mahal as having "outstanding universal value".
Mr Gormley is to recommend that the Tara Skryne Valley in Co Meath be awarded World Heritage status, and will shortly undertake a conservation plan which will stop any future commercial development in the valley.
It is likely that one-off housing applications will be considered, but shopping centres, large-scale housing estates and other commercial developments will not be allowed.
Addressing the International Council on Monuments and Sites last night, Mr Gormley said that Dr Jukka Jokilehto did not see the motorway as excluding the Co Meath site from attaining world heritage status.
"I find his remarks very encouraging and it is my view that this site would be a contender for possible World Heritage site."
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
M3 not to stop Tara getting world status, says Gormley
MINISTER FOR the Environment John Gormley has said he does not see the planned M3 motorway in Co Meath preventing the Hill of Tara from being nominated as a world heritage site. Tim O'Brien reports.
Speaking at a ceremony to mark the legal incorporation of the Irish branch of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, Mr Gormley said that while he had "always been personally opposed to the route of the M3", he believed it would be possible to take a series of initiatives to preserve the Gabhra Valley between the Hill of Tara and the Hill of Skryne.
The initiatives - which are to be a series of national rather than county-based preservation orders - would prevent "commercial spread" alongside the motorway, the Minister said. He also said a directive would be put in place to provide landscape protection.
Mr Gormley commented that with these measures in place Tara could still meet the strict criteria for incorporation on the list of UN world heritage sites. Such criteria rely heavily on natural or man-made heritage being well preserved.
Mr Gormley said he was conscious that the International Council on Monuments and Sites counted among its number about 7,600 heritage conservation professionals from 106 countries around the world.
The Irish branch numbers about 100 and Mr Gormley said he was particularly grateful for their assistance and support to his department in its heritage role.
Referring to the review of the tentative list of proposed world heritage sites, Mr Gormley spoke of his desire to include the Hill of Tara national monument in particular.
He said his department had engaged Dr Jukka Jokilehto, a Finnish-born conservation expert, to visit Tara and the other sites currently on what is known as the "tentative list" for inclusion.
Mr Gormley said Dr Jokilehto had "concluded that the Hill of Tara National monument has strong merit for inclusion in an application to Unesco for consideration as a world heritage site.
"He did not see the proposed new road as being an obstacle to making this recommendation," the Minister said.
Mr Gormley also said the formulation of a National Landscape Strategy was a "key commitment for me within the programme for government, and I am eager to kick-start a broad consultative process to drive forward the preparation of this strategy."
He said he would be asking a steering group to propose that the Tara Skryne area be designated as a landscape conservation area. His department had already held discussions with Meath County Council about this.
Meath County Council has previously given a commitment that land around the motorway in the sensitive area of the Gabhra Valley would not be rezoned for industrial or commercial uses.
However, opponents of the road said this would be particularly difficult to apply in the vicinity of motorway junctions and they pointed out that the Tara Na Ri interchange at Blundlestown is about one mile from the hill itself.
World class: our outstanding sites
Ireland has three Unesco world heritage sites:
The main prehistoric sites of the Brú na Bóinne complex, Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth, which are situated on the north bank of the river Boyne 50km north of Dublin.
The monastic complex at Skellig Michael , Co Kerry. This monastic complex, perched on the steep sides of a rocky island, dates from the seventh century. Because of its location about 12km off the coast the site is well preserved.
The Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast , Co Antrim. The Giant's Causeway lies at the foot of the basalt cliffs on the edge of the Antrim plateau in Northern Ireland. It is made up of some 40,000 massive black basalt columns sticking out of the sea. Geological studies over the last 300 years show the striking landscape was caused by volcanic activity some 50-60 million years ago.
In addition the department has prepared a "tentative list" of another eight candidate sites. The list includes: the Burren; the Rock of Cashel; the Ceide Fields; Clara Bog in Co Offaly; the Monastic settlement at Clonmacnoise; Killarney National Park; Northwest Mayo Boglands; Western Stone Forts.
To be included on the world heritage list, sites must be of outstanding universal value in either man-made or natural heritage terms.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Speaking at a ceremony to mark the legal incorporation of the Irish branch of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, Mr Gormley said that while he had "always been personally opposed to the route of the M3", he believed it would be possible to take a series of initiatives to preserve the Gabhra Valley between the Hill of Tara and the Hill of Skryne.
The initiatives - which are to be a series of national rather than county-based preservation orders - would prevent "commercial spread" alongside the motorway, the Minister said. He also said a directive would be put in place to provide landscape protection.
Mr Gormley commented that with these measures in place Tara could still meet the strict criteria for incorporation on the list of UN world heritage sites. Such criteria rely heavily on natural or man-made heritage being well preserved.
Mr Gormley said he was conscious that the International Council on Monuments and Sites counted among its number about 7,600 heritage conservation professionals from 106 countries around the world.
The Irish branch numbers about 100 and Mr Gormley said he was particularly grateful for their assistance and support to his department in its heritage role.
Referring to the review of the tentative list of proposed world heritage sites, Mr Gormley spoke of his desire to include the Hill of Tara national monument in particular.
He said his department had engaged Dr Jukka Jokilehto, a Finnish-born conservation expert, to visit Tara and the other sites currently on what is known as the "tentative list" for inclusion.
Mr Gormley said Dr Jokilehto had "concluded that the Hill of Tara National monument has strong merit for inclusion in an application to Unesco for consideration as a world heritage site.
"He did not see the proposed new road as being an obstacle to making this recommendation," the Minister said.
Mr Gormley also said the formulation of a National Landscape Strategy was a "key commitment for me within the programme for government, and I am eager to kick-start a broad consultative process to drive forward the preparation of this strategy."
He said he would be asking a steering group to propose that the Tara Skryne area be designated as a landscape conservation area. His department had already held discussions with Meath County Council about this.
Meath County Council has previously given a commitment that land around the motorway in the sensitive area of the Gabhra Valley would not be rezoned for industrial or commercial uses.
However, opponents of the road said this would be particularly difficult to apply in the vicinity of motorway junctions and they pointed out that the Tara Na Ri interchange at Blundlestown is about one mile from the hill itself.
World class: our outstanding sites
Ireland has three Unesco world heritage sites:
The main prehistoric sites of the Brú na Bóinne complex, Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth, which are situated on the north bank of the river Boyne 50km north of Dublin.
The monastic complex at Skellig Michael , Co Kerry. This monastic complex, perched on the steep sides of a rocky island, dates from the seventh century. Because of its location about 12km off the coast the site is well preserved.
The Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast , Co Antrim. The Giant's Causeway lies at the foot of the basalt cliffs on the edge of the Antrim plateau in Northern Ireland. It is made up of some 40,000 massive black basalt columns sticking out of the sea. Geological studies over the last 300 years show the striking landscape was caused by volcanic activity some 50-60 million years ago.
In addition the department has prepared a "tentative list" of another eight candidate sites. The list includes: the Burren; the Rock of Cashel; the Ceide Fields; Clara Bog in Co Offaly; the Monastic settlement at Clonmacnoise; Killarney National Park; Northwest Mayo Boglands; Western Stone Forts.
To be included on the world heritage list, sites must be of outstanding universal value in either man-made or natural heritage terms.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Tuesday, 6 March 2007
Greens in Govt would halt work on Tara motorway
Old news, but interesting nonetheless:
THE weekend’s Green Party Ard-Fheis passed a motion calling for work on the M3 motorway to halt immediately, following a motion proposed by Seán Ó Buachalla, the party’s Meath East general election candidate.
The motion read: “We believe that this road is unacceptable from a sustainable planning, environmental, and archaeological perspective. We believe that, at the very least, this motorway should be immediately halted and that in its place the rebuilding of the rail-link from Dublin to Navan and improvements in bus services should be prioritised over the development of new roads that may be planned.”
Dr Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin of Save Tara has welcomed the motion, saying that with the Green Party likely to hold the balance of power after the general election, Tara’s future looks somewhat more positive.
Meanwhile, transport researcher Brian Guckian has forwarded a complaint on breaches of the EU Directive on Environmental Impact Assessment regarding the M3 to the European Commission. Mr Guckian has previously lodged a petition on the same issues with the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament, who have ruled it admissible and are currently investigating the matter.
Mr Guckian reiterated that the central issue was the failure to adequately and correctly study alternative routes during the planning process for the M3 scheme, which is a central requirement of the EU Directive on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). He said that alternatives had been interpreted in an extremely limited and inadequate fashion, by simply examining alternative routes for the proposed road.
An Bord Pleanala had granted permission for the scheme in spite of this central failure in the planning process, he said, but the legal process in Ireland was arranged so that concerned citizens could not feasibly challenge the law in these matters due to the very high costs involved, which in itself was another breach of the EU Directive, which required that citizens must have access to justice in planning matters at reasonable cost.
© Meath Chronicle
THE weekend’s Green Party Ard-Fheis passed a motion calling for work on the M3 motorway to halt immediately, following a motion proposed by Seán Ó Buachalla, the party’s Meath East general election candidate.
The motion read: “We believe that this road is unacceptable from a sustainable planning, environmental, and archaeological perspective. We believe that, at the very least, this motorway should be immediately halted and that in its place the rebuilding of the rail-link from Dublin to Navan and improvements in bus services should be prioritised over the development of new roads that may be planned.”
Dr Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin of Save Tara has welcomed the motion, saying that with the Green Party likely to hold the balance of power after the general election, Tara’s future looks somewhat more positive.
Meanwhile, transport researcher Brian Guckian has forwarded a complaint on breaches of the EU Directive on Environmental Impact Assessment regarding the M3 to the European Commission. Mr Guckian has previously lodged a petition on the same issues with the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament, who have ruled it admissible and are currently investigating the matter.
Mr Guckian reiterated that the central issue was the failure to adequately and correctly study alternative routes during the planning process for the M3 scheme, which is a central requirement of the EU Directive on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). He said that alternatives had been interpreted in an extremely limited and inadequate fashion, by simply examining alternative routes for the proposed road.
An Bord Pleanala had granted permission for the scheme in spite of this central failure in the planning process, he said, but the legal process in Ireland was arranged so that concerned citizens could not feasibly challenge the law in these matters due to the very high costs involved, which in itself was another breach of the EU Directive, which required that citizens must have access to justice in planning matters at reasonable cost.
© Meath Chronicle
Thursday, 15 February 2007
Tara to be placed on a list of the world's 100 most endangered sites.
The Irish Indo' tells us of how the Ancient Hill of Tara has been nominated for inclusion on a list of the world's 100 most endangered sites.
The World Monuments Watch has helped save 420 irreplaceable sites in 80 countries, including the ancient Buddhist temple of Preah Khan at Angkor, Cambodia, built in 1191.
Environmentalists hope inclusion on the 2008 list will boost their campaign to reroute the M3 away from the fort. They claim the site is being threatened by construction of the M3 motorway, ancillary development and neglect.
However, the National Roads Authority point out the new road will be much safer, will save lives every year and is further away than the existing road.
Vincent Salafia of TaraWatch said the nomination takes the campaign to halt work on the M3 to a new level internationally.
"We are extremely hopeful the Government will think twice before signing the 30-year construction and tolling contract," he said. "The sustainable alternatives must be reviewed in light of the new data and EU rules on transport carbon emissions and climate change."
International expert Dr Ron Hicks, of the Department of Anthropology, Ball State University, Indiana endorsed the nomination. A decision on whether to include the Hill of Tara on the list will be made in the summer.
The World Monuments Watch has helped save 420 irreplaceable sites in 80 countries, including the ancient Buddhist temple of Preah Khan at Angkor, Cambodia, built in 1191.
Environmentalists hope inclusion on the 2008 list will boost their campaign to reroute the M3 away from the fort. They claim the site is being threatened by construction of the M3 motorway, ancillary development and neglect.
However, the National Roads Authority point out the new road will be much safer, will save lives every year and is further away than the existing road.
Vincent Salafia of TaraWatch said the nomination takes the campaign to halt work on the M3 to a new level internationally.
"We are extremely hopeful the Government will think twice before signing the 30-year construction and tolling contract," he said. "The sustainable alternatives must be reviewed in light of the new data and EU rules on transport carbon emissions and climate change."
International expert Dr Ron Hicks, of the Department of Anthropology, Ball State University, Indiana endorsed the nomination. A decision on whether to include the Hill of Tara on the list will be made in the summer.
Tuesday, 16 January 2007
Is Tara's archaeology being damaged?
Frank McDonald of The Irish Times keeps us all informed on Tara:
The National Roads Authority (NRA) has denied that directions by Minister for the Environment Dick Roche to protect archaeology along the M3 motorway route are being "openly flouted" by works now under way.
Celtic scholar Dr Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin, of the Save Tara campaign, has written to Mr Roche and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern complaining that damage had been done to Rath Lugh, a designated national monument.
"The tree felling and use of heavy digging machinery at Lismullin and at the base of Rath Lugh - one of Tara's outlying defensive fortifications - is not being carried out in accordance with the Minister's directions."
Dr Ní Bhrolcháin said standards of best archaeological practice were not being observed and that the directions issued by Mr Roche in May 2005 regarding the treatment of archaeological sites "are being openly flouted".
But Mary Deevy, project archaeologist with the NRA, insisted that a site in a Save Tara photograph was part of an esker ridge - "two fields away from Rath Lugh" - which was used for private small-scale gravel quarrying.
She had walked from Lismullin to Rath Lugh earlier this month with Heather King, a senior archaeologist from the department, "who confirmed that no damage had been done to archaeological sites" in the area.
Asked if the Minister's directions were being flouted, Ms Deevy said: "Absolutely not". She added that the contractors involved in the work were fully informed on archaeological sites "and know very well what sites to avoid".
Mr Roche had specified that the removal of forestry and topsoil at Lismullin and Ardsallagh was to be "carried out under archaeological supervision" and all construction topsoil stripping was to be archaeologically monitored.
"There is no archaeological supervision of forestry clearance at Lismullin," Dr Ní Bhrolcháin said. "Neither is there any archaeological monitoring of large-scale earthmoving from the base of the Rath Lugh escarpment.
"Such actions completely undermine Rath Lugh and the assurances given by the Minister in relation to this, one of our nation's most sensitive archaeological and historical landscapes," her statement said.
She explained that Rath Lugh "stands as a sentry over the Gabhra Valley guarding the northern and north-western approaches to the Hill [ of Tara] and overlooks other nearby recorded archaeological monuments".
Dr Ní Bhrolcháin said stratified archaeological sediments were visible in photographs of damage done to what she claimed was Rath Lugh. "If there were archaeological supervision such works would have been brought to a halt."
She also queried why such work had started under cover of darkness when an archaeologist would be unlikely to see freshly disturbed archaeological strata.
Although the Minister had said that his directions were "both comprehensive and onerous" and would "protect heritage" sites along the M3, Dr Ní Bhrolcháin said that his expressed wishes "are being 'comprehensively' ignored".
The National Roads Authority (NRA) has denied that directions by Minister for the Environment Dick Roche to protect archaeology along the M3 motorway route are being "openly flouted" by works now under way.
Celtic scholar Dr Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin, of the Save Tara campaign, has written to Mr Roche and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern complaining that damage had been done to Rath Lugh, a designated national monument.
"The tree felling and use of heavy digging machinery at Lismullin and at the base of Rath Lugh - one of Tara's outlying defensive fortifications - is not being carried out in accordance with the Minister's directions."
Dr Ní Bhrolcháin said standards of best archaeological practice were not being observed and that the directions issued by Mr Roche in May 2005 regarding the treatment of archaeological sites "are being openly flouted".
But Mary Deevy, project archaeologist with the NRA, insisted that a site in a Save Tara photograph was part of an esker ridge - "two fields away from Rath Lugh" - which was used for private small-scale gravel quarrying.
She had walked from Lismullin to Rath Lugh earlier this month with Heather King, a senior archaeologist from the department, "who confirmed that no damage had been done to archaeological sites" in the area.
Asked if the Minister's directions were being flouted, Ms Deevy said: "Absolutely not". She added that the contractors involved in the work were fully informed on archaeological sites "and know very well what sites to avoid".
Mr Roche had specified that the removal of forestry and topsoil at Lismullin and Ardsallagh was to be "carried out under archaeological supervision" and all construction topsoil stripping was to be archaeologically monitored.
"There is no archaeological supervision of forestry clearance at Lismullin," Dr Ní Bhrolcháin said. "Neither is there any archaeological monitoring of large-scale earthmoving from the base of the Rath Lugh escarpment.
"Such actions completely undermine Rath Lugh and the assurances given by the Minister in relation to this, one of our nation's most sensitive archaeological and historical landscapes," her statement said.
She explained that Rath Lugh "stands as a sentry over the Gabhra Valley guarding the northern and north-western approaches to the Hill [ of Tara] and overlooks other nearby recorded archaeological monuments".
Dr Ní Bhrolcháin said stratified archaeological sediments were visible in photographs of damage done to what she claimed was Rath Lugh. "If there were archaeological supervision such works would have been brought to a halt."
She also queried why such work had started under cover of darkness when an archaeologist would be unlikely to see freshly disturbed archaeological strata.
Although the Minister had said that his directions were "both comprehensive and onerous" and would "protect heritage" sites along the M3, Dr Ní Bhrolcháin said that his expressed wishes "are being 'comprehensively' ignored".
Tuesday, 9 January 2007
The Tara saga continues in The Irish Times ...
It has taken me a few days to get this story up as my web link has been down. The next few posts will be bits I have picked up from the papers in the last few days. Each is referenced back to the original paper. Brendan.
The Tara issue was back in the news over the weekend with an article by Frank McDonald in The Irish Times:
The Save Tara campaign has urged Opposition TDs to call a halt to the "premature clearing" of trees in the Gabhra Valley, east of the Hill of Tara in Co Meath, and to reroute the M3 motorway "before we pave over history, literature and archaeology".
In a statement yesterday, it said that the public should visit the sites where trees had been felled to verify - contrary to claims by its proponents - that the motorway would be closer to Tara than the existing N3.
Save Tara said that the tree-felling at Rath Lugh, near Lismullin, and at Blundelstown "shows without doubt that the new road and the planned interchange are closer to the top of the hill than the existing road".
Noting that the Gabhra river runs beside the N3, it said that the motorway would drive over it.
Gabhra means "white mare", and horses are associated with the kingship of Tara. Horse bones were found on the hill.
The valley was associated with the deaths of the Fianna. "Here is the site of the Battle of Gabhra, where the King of Tara battled with the Fianna and both he an the famous champion Oscar were killed along with many others," the statement said.
"Rath Lugh contains the name of the old Irish god Lugh, who took over his kingship on the top of the Hill of Tara and is celebrated in the Festival of Lúnasa. It was one of the outer defensive forts of Tara, and the present route will cut it away from its natural centre. This extraordinary rath would then sit at the edge of a motorway, completely out of context."
The statement said that three Tara experts had warned of this "rather ignominious end for a once proud and important monument". In a paper in 2004, Joe Fenwick, Conor Newman and Edel Bhreathnach said that the M3 would "destroy the spatial and visual integrity of the archaeological and historical landscape of Tara as well as removing from it key component monuments".
The Tara issue was back in the news over the weekend with an article by Frank McDonald in The Irish Times:
The Save Tara campaign has urged Opposition TDs to call a halt to the "premature clearing" of trees in the Gabhra Valley, east of the Hill of Tara in Co Meath, and to reroute the M3 motorway "before we pave over history, literature and archaeology".
In a statement yesterday, it said that the public should visit the sites where trees had been felled to verify - contrary to claims by its proponents - that the motorway would be closer to Tara than the existing N3.
Save Tara said that the tree-felling at Rath Lugh, near Lismullin, and at Blundelstown "shows without doubt that the new road and the planned interchange are closer to the top of the hill than the existing road".
Noting that the Gabhra river runs beside the N3, it said that the motorway would drive over it.
Gabhra means "white mare", and horses are associated with the kingship of Tara. Horse bones were found on the hill.
The valley was associated with the deaths of the Fianna. "Here is the site of the Battle of Gabhra, where the King of Tara battled with the Fianna and both he an the famous champion Oscar were killed along with many others," the statement said.
"Rath Lugh contains the name of the old Irish god Lugh, who took over his kingship on the top of the Hill of Tara and is celebrated in the Festival of Lúnasa. It was one of the outer defensive forts of Tara, and the present route will cut it away from its natural centre. This extraordinary rath would then sit at the edge of a motorway, completely out of context."
The statement said that three Tara experts had warned of this "rather ignominious end for a once proud and important monument". In a paper in 2004, Joe Fenwick, Conor Newman and Edel Bhreathnach said that the M3 would "destroy the spatial and visual integrity of the archaeological and historical landscape of Tara as well as removing from it key component monuments".
Friday, 5 January 2007
Tara protesters continuing work
The Indo reported this week that:
PROTESTERS disrupted preparatory work along the route of the M3 motorway in Co Meath yesterday in their bid to have the road moved away from the historic Hill of Tara.
Campaigners gathered at Rath Lugh to block the diggers from clearing the felled trees.
Work was disrupted after a number of protesters entered the site and stood in front of the mechanical vehicles before climbing into the buckets of the diggers.
Siobhan Rice from Dublin, a Save Tara campaigner, said the work was being carried out on the outskirts of Rath Lugh, which is a defence fort of Tara, the ancient seat of the High Kings of Ireland.
"We still continue to ask that independent archaeologists be allowed to inspect the sites," Ms Rice said. "It is an area that is extraordinarily rich in heritage and has been compared to the Valley of the Kings in Egypt.
"We are not anti-M3 campaigners - we just want the road moved around the Tara-Skryne valley, where it would cost taxpayers around €50m less."
The protesters vowed to continue blocking machinery and attending sites where archaeologists are working every day as the preparatory work for the M3 motorway from Clonee to Kells continues.
Campaigner Anita Ni Nuallain (22) from Newbridge, who has been camping near the site, said: "We will be here as long as it takes, until we can get the road rerouted."
"I think people don't realise the importance of Tara. It is not just a hill, it is a whole complex - the whole Boyne Valley is interlinked."
Louise Hogan
PROTESTERS disrupted preparatory work along the route of the M3 motorway in Co Meath yesterday in their bid to have the road moved away from the historic Hill of Tara.
Campaigners gathered at Rath Lugh to block the diggers from clearing the felled trees.
Work was disrupted after a number of protesters entered the site and stood in front of the mechanical vehicles before climbing into the buckets of the diggers.
Siobhan Rice from Dublin, a Save Tara campaigner, said the work was being carried out on the outskirts of Rath Lugh, which is a defence fort of Tara, the ancient seat of the High Kings of Ireland.
"We still continue to ask that independent archaeologists be allowed to inspect the sites," Ms Rice said. "It is an area that is extraordinarily rich in heritage and has been compared to the Valley of the Kings in Egypt.
"We are not anti-M3 campaigners - we just want the road moved around the Tara-Skryne valley, where it would cost taxpayers around €50m less."
The protesters vowed to continue blocking machinery and attending sites where archaeologists are working every day as the preparatory work for the M3 motorway from Clonee to Kells continues.
Campaigner Anita Ni Nuallain (22) from Newbridge, who has been camping near the site, said: "We will be here as long as it takes, until we can get the road rerouted."
"I think people don't realise the importance of Tara. It is not just a hill, it is a whole complex - the whole Boyne Valley is interlinked."
Louise Hogan
Tuesday, 14 November 2006
Tara Protest March on Satruday the 10th of November
SPEAKER after speaker at the Save Tara Skryne Valley protest march in Navan on Saturday paid tribute to the huge crowd for turning out and supporting them.
They obviously weren’t in the same town a few weeks ago when the march to save Navan’s Fair Green took place. Well over 1,000 marched through Navan for that rally. Around 150 took part in Saturday’s Save Tara demonstration.
Among the participants were Disney characters Mickey Mouse and Shrek, in addition to local public representatives Colr Andy Brennan and Colr Phil Cantwell, Green Party TD Ciaran Cuffe and Tara campaigner Muireann Ni Bhrolochain.
The parade was due to begin at 2pm at the Navan Railway Station yard on Railway Street, a site chosen to draw attention to the lack of a passenger rail line to Dublin. Across the road, patrons of Fulham’s public house were mounting their own counter-demonstration. On a placard, they had written slogans in support of the motorway.
“We want the road. We need jobs. We don’t want traffic jams,” they shouted over at the protestors, who were busy blowing up green and gold balloons, and face-painting. Ciaran Cuffe, Green TD, wasn’t sure which side of the street to stand on, but eventually entered the station yard.
Led off by bodhrans and the Tara Solidarity Vigil and their flame - a group who are camping on the Hill of Tara in solidarity with Dinny Donnelly’s sheep, perhaps - the march eventually began shortly after 2.30pm, and headed down Railway Street, with almost as many people filming and photographing it as there were marching.
Bemused shoppers and passers-by looked on, and there was even the odd irate spectator letting off steam.
“Save Tara, stop the road,” the marchers chanted. A Skryne man on Trimgate Street wondered why he couldn’t see any Skryne people in it, before spotting one or two. The gathering point for the rally was at Dunnes Stores, where speakers climbed up on a bale of straw in a pick-up van to address the “marvellous crowd” that had turned out.
TARA stands for ‘There Are Reasonable Alternatives’, Ciaran Cuffe told the gathering, and other speakers included Percy Jordan, a farmer from the Tara area; Muireann Ni Bhrolchain, a lecturer in Celtic studies at NUI Maynooth; Green Party senate candidate Martin Hogan from Kildare, and Damien Cassidy, a rail line campaigner, as well as Colr Phil Cantwell, Trim.
Communications Minister, local TD Noel Dempsey, was the target of the speeches by Ms Ni Bhrolochain and Colr Cantwell.
The rally concluded after an hour with Mickey Mouse and Shrek dancing outside Dunnes Stores.
They obviously weren’t in the same town a few weeks ago when the march to save Navan’s Fair Green took place. Well over 1,000 marched through Navan for that rally. Around 150 took part in Saturday’s Save Tara demonstration.
Among the participants were Disney characters Mickey Mouse and Shrek, in addition to local public representatives Colr Andy Brennan and Colr Phil Cantwell, Green Party TD Ciaran Cuffe and Tara campaigner Muireann Ni Bhrolochain.
The parade was due to begin at 2pm at the Navan Railway Station yard on Railway Street, a site chosen to draw attention to the lack of a passenger rail line to Dublin. Across the road, patrons of Fulham’s public house were mounting their own counter-demonstration. On a placard, they had written slogans in support of the motorway.
“We want the road. We need jobs. We don’t want traffic jams,” they shouted over at the protestors, who were busy blowing up green and gold balloons, and face-painting. Ciaran Cuffe, Green TD, wasn’t sure which side of the street to stand on, but eventually entered the station yard.
Led off by bodhrans and the Tara Solidarity Vigil and their flame - a group who are camping on the Hill of Tara in solidarity with Dinny Donnelly’s sheep, perhaps - the march eventually began shortly after 2.30pm, and headed down Railway Street, with almost as many people filming and photographing it as there were marching.
Bemused shoppers and passers-by looked on, and there was even the odd irate spectator letting off steam.
“Save Tara, stop the road,” the marchers chanted. A Skryne man on Trimgate Street wondered why he couldn’t see any Skryne people in it, before spotting one or two. The gathering point for the rally was at Dunnes Stores, where speakers climbed up on a bale of straw in a pick-up van to address the “marvellous crowd” that had turned out.
TARA stands for ‘There Are Reasonable Alternatives’, Ciaran Cuffe told the gathering, and other speakers included Percy Jordan, a farmer from the Tara area; Muireann Ni Bhrolchain, a lecturer in Celtic studies at NUI Maynooth; Green Party senate candidate Martin Hogan from Kildare, and Damien Cassidy, a rail line campaigner, as well as Colr Phil Cantwell, Trim.
Communications Minister, local TD Noel Dempsey, was the target of the speeches by Ms Ni Bhrolochain and Colr Cantwell.
The rally concluded after an hour with Mickey Mouse and Shrek dancing outside Dunnes Stores.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)