At the archaeological heart of Ireland, one of the most horrific acts of cultural desecration has been taking place for the last two years. Over 46 heritage sites and national monuments have already been destroyed,and the majority of us are oblivious, unaware that anything is happening.
The new M3 motorway is under construction in the Tara Skryne valley, Ireland. SIAC and Ferrovial road companies, with the support of the Irish government are building a motorway through valley. It has already cost more than €950 million (at the last count in March 2008), yet is only going to cut current journey time by a matter of minutes. The Navan Dublin rail link that has lain dormant for many years could have been re-opened for a fraction of the price or the existing N3 could have been expanded. This is an unnecessary and inexcusable desecration of heritage and waste of money.
The Irish government has gone against EU directives in building this road, destroying a site of world importance before it was properly researched or received the appropriate attention. The road builders are also contravening the human rights of the Irish people; the right to the protection of their archaeological and historical sites, religious and cultural sites.
The Tara Skryne Valley is home to over 60 such sites, the oldest being more than 6,000 years old. The richness of the archaeology and history is practically unrivalled in Ireland. It is the land of Irish folklore, home of the Irish Kings, of the legendary Cu Chullain and Finn of the Fianna. The Hill of Tara holds the legendary Stone of Destiny. The dead from the Battle of Tara in the 1798 United Irishmen Rebellion lay in the valley; their bodies recently dug up and ploughed through in one of the most disturbing acts of desecration in the road building to date. Daniel O'Connell held his monster meeting, the biggest ever gathering in Ireland, at Tara in 1843.
There were nine possible routes for the M3. The chosen route is the most archaeologically damaging. When looked at from a bird's eye view it is a dot-to-dot of heritage sites, cutting through the highest concentrate of known archaeology in the valley. There has so far been no explanation for this choice of route, it being neither the cheapest nor the quickest. The current route is twenty minutes slower than the next slowest choice; a total of four believed to be quicker. For an expected saving of €100 million the route could have by-passed the valley completely.
Included in the sites already destroyed has been: a 6,000 year old grave yard; a 2,000 year old wood-henge housing a megalithic pattern-engraved stone; an ancient feasting ground of heroes and nobility; the first Christian settlement in Ireland and a set of twelve round-house style sou-terrains, largely intact and interconnected by a network of tunnels, representing the largest known complex of its kind in Ireland.
The Irish government has received complaints, petitions and pleas from all over Ireland, Great Britain and the rest of the world requesting a re-route. Outrage among archaeologists at their decision to allow this has been global. Director of the National Museum, Pat Wallace said "This group of monuments constitute an archaeological and cultural landscape which deserves the fullest and most generous archaeological protection", Nobel Prize-winning poet laureate, Seamus Heaney dubbed it "a ruthless desecration", likening the road building at Tara to the Taliban's destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan and Head of the Archaeological Institute of America, Jane Waldbaum said "We are shocked that planning permission has been granted. We appeal to the Irish authorities as a matter of urgency to move this section of the M3 away from the Tara Skryne valley and to save this precious legacy from our shared past for posterity".
Included in the various petitions and objections regarding the route has been; a statement signed by 28 Members of the European Parliament, a statement signed by 350 academics across the globe and an online petition signed by more than 37,000 people.
The immediate threat facing Tara has placed it in the World Monuments Fund's 2008 list of 100 Most Endangered Landscapes and the AIA declared the site at Lismullen, demolished last year one of the Top Ten Most Important Discoveries of 2007.
John Gormley, present Minister for the Environment, stated in his election campaign that if he came in to power he would re-route the M3 away from Tara. He then claimed after winning that he "could not reverse any judiciary decisions made by previous minister Dick Roche with regard to the M3". One of Minister Roche's last acts in office was to sign the order that permitted the destruction of Lismullen. This has set a legal precedent meaning that any national monument can be destroyed under the instruction of the Minister for Environment. This is in contravention of an EU directive and means no national monument is safe.
In the only independent opinion survey, until January 2008, on public opinion of the M3, two thirds of people were shown to be unhappy with the chosen route and less than one in ten feeling properly informed on the work being carried out. The full surveys can be viewed at http://www.savetara.com/Download/SurveyResults.pdf. [^] The majority of the Irish public are also unaware that the new motorway is going to be a double tolled road, costing a commuter between Cavan and Dublin more than €3,000 a year. In March this year machinery started working on the Rath Lugh national monument. This was not only very dangerous as it was destabilising the fragile esker of the rath but illegal as Rath Lugh was under a Protection Order. To stop work a female protestor descended a hand built tunnel running under the route. Any machinery entering the esker would potentially collapse the tunnel occupied by the woman, endangering her life.
There was widespread outrage at the attempted work as John Gormley had promised Rath Lugh would be protected. After sixty hours in the tunnel Lisa Feeney emerged when a contract was drawn up and signed by the head of the National Roads Authority. It stated, among other things, that no work would be carried out on the national monument for a minimum of one month.
Four days later, sixteen 40-tonne machines with an escort of 60 security guards and 50 police officers entered on to Rath Lugh and demolished the entire esker. The police ignored all attempts by protestors and onlookers to show copies of the signed agreement or of the Protection Order, arresting anyone attempting to obstruct machinery. Irish police, have shown repeatedly that the Euro is valued above the law.
Minister Gormley was quoted as being "shocked" when a few days later he visited the rath and saw the extent of the damage. Rath Lugh has now been completely demolished and handed over to the road company, after protestors were evicted on the grounds that the area was to be used for public recreational purposes. The Irish media have pretty much drawn a blank with regard to the M3 story. Coverage has so far extended as to occasionally mention some of the antics of the protestors, happy to report when a protestor is arrested or goes down a tunnel but slow to report the discovery and destruction of the country's most significant archaeological find of the last century or the largest known sou-terrain complex on this island.
The National Roads Authority has been lying continually in their official findings and covering up the discovery of important archaeological sites. The sou-terrain complex at Roes town was originally described by the NRA as a set of three and set of four roundhouses, of little archaeological value. Two days before evidence showing an intact group of twelve was published, their story changed, more closely representing true findings.
An archaeologist working on the Lismullen site was told for his first three weeks of work that there was no need for him to carry out any excavation but if questioned to say work was being done but nothing had been found. The archaeologist in question later joined the protest camp and has been involved in writing many of the archaeological reports published by the "Save Tara" campaign.
In July 2007, a royal feasting ground at Baronstown, was destroyed by diggers at 4am in the morning.
At Collierstown graves more than 6,000 year old, were left uncovered for months, open to the elements, with their bones eventually being plastered on the road and picked up by local school children.
Tara has lain for thousands of years as a sacred, spiritual place, it is sad this should be happening now, when we are finally beginning to realise the fragility of our land and importance of our past. When will we learn that there are things much more valuable than money? When it is too late?
The full text of various statements and petitions and more information can be viewed at www.archaeological.org and the "Save Tara" campaign's website www.savetara.com .
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