[Marxism] "Celtic Tiger" vandalism

["James Daly" <james.irldaly@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Date: Thu, 12 May 2005 05:08:59 -0700
From: Peter Urban <irsp@xxxxxxxxxx>

 Save The Hill of Tara, the National Monument of Ireland


http://www.PetitionOnline.com/hilltara/petition.html


Personal comments from xxxxxx

To: Prime Minister of Ireland, Mr Bertie Ahern
 Dear Taoiseach Ahern,

I object the planned routing of the M3 motorway through the
Tara-Skryne valley, and the resulting despoilment this will cause to
Ireland's oldest and most revered national monument.

The archaeological importance of this area is beyond question. After
seven years surveying the Hill of Tara and its 80km² hinterland as
director of the government funded Discovery Programme, Conor Newman
said: "Tara is one of the most important and famous archaeological
complexes in the world.… all of our researches point to the valley
between Tara and Skryne as an area of paramount importance throughout
the history of Tara."

More recently, 12 eminent Irish historians and archaeologists in
letters to the Irish Independent and The Examiner wrote: "The Hill of
Tara constitutes the heart and soul of Ireland. Its very name invokes
the spirit and mystique of our people and is instantly recognisable
worldwide. The plan approved recently by An Bord Pleanála for the M3
motorway to dissect the Tara-Skryne valley, Ireland's premier national
monument, spells out a massive national and international tragedy that
must be averted."

Can anyone doubt the profound cultural importance of Tara and its
unique landscape? A landscape honoured and revered by millions
throughout the world today and countless generations of Irish people
gone before us. Nowhere else in Ireland is there a landscape that can
claim the Tuatha de Danann, Celtic Gods and Goddesses, St. Patrick,
Daniel O'Connell, Thomas Moore, heroes and High Kings from Fionn
MacCumhail to Brian Boru, an archaeological complex of temples, tombs,
enclosures and henges spanning five millennia, and a continuous place
at the centre of Irish spiritual, cultural, political and literary
history, as part of it's fabric.

Yet it is through the very heart of this landscape, that Meath County
Council, the NRA and the Irish Government wish to build a motorway,
which will impact at least 141 known sites. According to Dr Conor
Newman, this is just "the tip of the iceberg".

Roads, of course, are necessary to relieving the nightmare of traffic
congestion. However, in the absence of any plans to improve the Navan
Road/M50 roundabout, the M3 project will not relieve congestion, it
will merely move it from one place to another; plugging the worst
bottleneck between Navan and Dublin even tighter. Spending €680m on an
ineffectual motorway that will ruin Tara forever, cannot be described
as progress; rather it constitutes wanton vandalism on a grand scale.

The National Roads Authority has released an estimate of €20m to
excavate the route of the M3. I believe this figure could be closer to
€100m, since there are more than likely so many monuments yet to be
discovered, due to a low-grade geophysical survey carried out during
the EIS. I strongly object to this amount of Irish taxpayers money
being used to dig up our prize national monument, and other national
monuments all around the country, especially in light of the recent
High Court finding that heritage protection regulations enacted by
your Government are unconstitutional.

And so I am moved to ask you three questions:

1). The M3 plans include the construction of a 34 acre floodlit
intersection (Blundelstown) a mere 1,090 meters from the Hill of
Tara's core zone (as defined by OPW); what has, or will, your Office
do to preserve the national monument of Tara from this permanent
defacement?

2). Why are the people of Ireland being asked to pay €1.3 billion
(via toll charges and taxes) for a project estimated at €64, but which
cannot demonstrably relieve congestion, will lead to more violations
of the Kyoto agreement, and will damage our national heritage
irretrievably?

3). What will your Office do to urge re-consideration of the currently
approved route for the M3, and/or to engage in a process of generating
alternative effective solutions to the very real problem of traffic
congestion in the area, such as reopening the Dublin to Navan
railroad?

I look forward to your reply, and in the meantime urge you, in your
capacity as Taoiseach to oppose the imminent despoilment of Tara by
the M3 motorway, and to do all you can in working for the reversal of
this disastrous decision.



Sincerely,

The Undersigned

http://www.petitiononline.com/hilltara/petition.html

(PLEASE FORWARD THIS PETITION TO FRIENDS & FAMILY)

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