TARAWATCH - Save the Hill of Tara from M3 motorway

Summer Solstice Celebrations on the Hill of Tara / 20-21 June

2010-05-23T16:34:00.001+01:00

TaraWatch calls on you to join poets, musicians and revellers at the annual Summer Solstice celebrations on the Hill of Tara, beginning on Sunday, 20 June. Festivities begin at noon and run all through the night, until sunrise on Monday, the 21st. If you are an artist, and want to participate, please contact us at info@tarawatch.org You can also register for this event on Facebook, receive updates, and help us promote it.

We will have some special guests, including Hope Ebsworth, a leader of the Wangkumarra people in Queensland, Australia. He has written a book and written a book Bury me at Tartulla Hill, and is travelling to Tara to highlight the plight of his people. Wangkumarra land is at the juncture of Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia. Since 2001, Wangkumarra people have received an annual payment of $60,000 in compensation for Santos’ destructive mining and exploration activity on their land andrip half a billion dollars worth of oil and gas out of the land every year.

This years celebration at Tara will be a more sombre affair, as the M3 motorway will have opened on 4 June. However, we will continue to lobby for the protection of Tara, against future developments, and highlight the Government's ongoing mistreatment of Irish heritage, such as the N2 Slane bypass at Bru na Boinne World Heritage Site. An information session on the proposed Tara Skryne Landscape Protection Area, and the nomination of the Hill of Tara to be a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Tara is the most beautiful place in Ireland to experience the solstice, so please come and join us.

Dec 23 deadline on public consultation for proposed Hill of Tara UNESCO site

2009-11-05T01:14:00.001+01:00

Dear TaraWatch supporter,
Thank you for your continued support of the campaign to save Tara from the M3. This week, a new Tentative List of Ireland's proposed World Heritage Sites was published by the Department of the Environment, and it includes Tara. The Hill of Tara landscape should be a World Heritage Site, but not with a motorway being built through the middle of it. UNESCO must demand a re-routing of the road, like they are at Stonehenge. Please write letters to the editor at: independent.letters@independent.ie in response to the article below. Also make your views known to John Gormley, Minister for the Environment, at minister@environ.ie and worldheritagetentativelist@environ.ie
Cheers,
TaraWatch

Shortlist for world heritage status is drawn up
Irish Independent - Monday November 02 2009

By Paul Melia

GEORGIAN Dublin and the Tara complex are among a list of potential world heritage sites being prepared by Environment Minister John Gormley. Today, a list of potential nominees to the World Heritage List will be published, which also asks UNESCO to consider protecting the Burren and Ceide Fields and north Mayo boglands. But there's bad news for Killarney National Park and the bogs of Clara, Co Offaly, which have been dropped from the list. Instead, an expert group wants to honour Georgian Dublin and the capital's literary heritage, which has seen Dubliners George Bernard Shaw and Samuel Beckett garner two Nobel Prizes for Literature. World Heritage sites are considered to be of 'outstanding universal value' and are defined as being of "cultural and/or natural significance which is so exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations of all humanity".

Inscribed

Ireland currently has three sites -- The Giant's Causeway in Co Antrim, which was inscribed in 1986, Bru na Boinne in Co Meath (1993), and Skellig Michael in Co Kerry (1996). The new list recommends the Burren, Ceide Fields and north-west Mayo Boglands, Clonmacnoise, Dublin -- A Georgian City and its Literary Tradition, Early Medieval Monastic Sites, the Royal Sites of Ireland and Western Stone Forts. "It is now much more difficult to meet the UNESCO requirements for inscription," Mr Gormley said. "I believe that the draft list contains a list of those Irish properties which are of outstanding universal value and which meet the UNESCO inscription requirements."

Public consultation - stakeholders - Deadline December 23.

There will be consultation with stakeholders and interested parties before any region is formally nominated. Last October, the minister established an Expert Advisory Group to carry out a review of Ireland's 1992 Tentative List of potential sites for nomination. The next stage is that local authorities and communities will be consulted in relation to potential sites in their areas and there will be an opportunity to make observations on the draft new Tentative List. The deadline for submissions on the current list is December 23. The World Heritage List has almost 900 properties, including the Alhambra in Spain, Red Square in Russia and Acropolis in Greece.

MORE INFORMATION:

TaraWatch UNESCO Consultation Site

Contact: info@tarawatch.org

9,000 year old Neolithic fishing trap found in Hill of Tara landscape during excavations along path of M3 motorway

2009-08-29T13:32:00.003+01:00

The Irish Times reported on Friday, August 28 2009 that a 9,000 year old fishing trap was found in the Hill of Tara landscape, near Dunsany, during excavations by the National Roads Authority (NRA), along the path of the M3 motorway. The incredible find was reported in a story entitled, 'Artefacts uncovered during roadworks give fresh perspective on early Irish life', which covered the NRA National Archaeology Seminar 2009, which took place in Dublin on Thursday, 27th August, entitled 'Creative Minds: production, manufacturing and invention in ancient Ireland'. The Irish Times article stated:

"Ronan Swan of the NRA told of a fishing trap uncovered at Clowanstown on the route of the M3 near Dunsany. It was made of saplings and was probably 9,000 years old."

Details of the fishing trap can be found in the Final Excavation Report for Clowanstown1, available in the archaeology section of the NRA web site. The trap and a lot of other Neolithic fishing materials, along with axes, jewelry and evidence of industrial and ritual activity and were located within an area containing five mounds or man-made monuments. The site sits beside a wetland which was previously a lake, and you can view the report with images on the NRA web site, the text of which is reprinted below, with some images.

Final archaeological report for Clowanstown 1, County Meath

Probable Mesolithic fishing platform and Early Neolithic burnt Mounds.

This site was located within Contract 2 (Dunshaughlin to Navan) of the proposed M3 Clonee to North of Kells motorway and was identified during advance testing by Jonathan Dempsey in spring 2004 (04E0418). Topographical and environmental work commenced in advance of excavation in September 2006. Full resolution revealed a probable Mesolithic fishing platform and Neolithic burnt mounds located near the centre of a former lough.

Location

Five Mounds were situated at the western edge of a raised bog, including organic sediments up to 3.45m deep, overlying thick shell-rich marl, sealing probable gravels and sands laid down at the base of a small lough. It seems likely that deposition of the basal silts commenced reasonably early in the Holocene.

An early mooring

Six substantial stakes defined a rough arc around the landward side of the central depression, perhaps providing a structure to fish from as well as a mooring for a dugout. A number of large stones may be ballast or anchor stones. The stakes were driven up to 1.85m into the underlying marl, whilst three had subsided heavily, suggesting a heavy weight on them. Two stakes had not been sharpened, demonstrating the saturated state of the underlying strata when they were inserted.

Fishing baskets

Two pairs of conical baskets twined with one to two year old alder withes, were found within the central depression. One basket measured 1.12m long x c.0.4m in diameter at the open end, which was finished with a double row of twining. The closed end appeared to have previously been externally bound and trimmed. Small stones weighted the baskets in position, which were probably baited or provided with funnel entrances. A number of c.20mm diameter fire hardened stakes and woodchips were found in the immediate vicinity. The woodchips were apparently of stone-axe cut timber. Occasional larger stones included a hone stone.

Tiny wooden canoe

To the east: additional stakes; a small wooden plank and an unidentified carved wooden object were recorded. The wooden object appears superficially similar to a dugout canoe but is only 360mm long and may have been a toy, a carpenters model, a votive offering, or a functional container with no intended similarity to dugouts. As the lough dried up a number of drainage gullies developed and sphagnum peat began to form.

The platform

A natural platform beside three flooded depressions was the focus of apparent late Mesolithic activity. A sub-oval layer of burnt timbers consolidated the platform measuring c.7m x 5.9m. A later trough removed a probable central hearth and truncated a posthole/pit. Two thin stakes deeply driven either side of this central area may have supported a rack for smoking fish. A number of: burnt stake ends; flint, chert and siltstone leaf shaped flakes, points and blades; hazelnut shells and occasional stones and animal bones were retrieved. It seems likely that this layer may represent the collapse of a small late Mesolithic structure designed for preparing fish and fishing equipment. This is likely to have involved: repairing, baiting and emptying baskets; hardening and sharpening stakes and spears; preparing, smoking and eating fish. A period of relative abandonment was characterised by the slow build up of humified sphagnum peat and scrub carr as the lough retreated.

The burnt mounds

Activity recommenced with the infilling of the central depression (Mound A) with redeposited marl and limestone. No extraction site has been recognised for the marl though it appears similar to layers 1m below. Both the marl and the stone appear to have been locally imported.

Mound A:

Within Mound A, a conspicuous sequence of at least 9 burnt layers where each was sealed by a layer of redeposited marl and limestone, gradually raised the Mound above its surroundings. Each burnt layer included charcoal, burnt sandstone and limestone fragments and very occasional fragments of carinated bowl.

Seven, sub-rectangular troughs varying from 3.8m to 6.5m in length by 1.8m to 2.6m x c.0.4m average depth, related to the successive phases of burning. Many of the troughs had primary layers of burnt sandstone and limestone and most had been backfilled with peat. A shallow, bowl-shaped pit was positioned downslope of each trough except one. The troughs were positioned progressively further downslope and away from Mound A so that the furthest one was over 20m away. The furthest troughs may relate to Mound C.

Immediately to the southeast of Mound A and beneath Mound C, two spreads of crushed cremated bone, occasional fragments of carinated bowl, burnt flint and occasional lithics had been trampled into the peat. One near complete carinated bowl included burnt internal residue. A number of highly structured deposits involving redeposited marl, crushed cremated bone, burnt flint and fragments of carinated bowl had been deposited beneath Mound C and Mound D, apparently concentrated on the artificially extended natural depressions beneath the centre of each. The primary deposit beneath Mound C was interned in a wooden or bark container measuring c.0.65m diameter x 0.12m deep.

Mound D: [Descriptions for Mound B and C are missing from online NRA report]

This was a low crescent shaped mound of burnt stone waste from Mound A, measuring c.15m x 7m surrounding the landward side of Mound A. Photo: Recording a section through mound D, Clowanstown 1

Mound E:

A fifth mound south of Mound A also centred on a series of structured crushed, cremated bone deposits, which included a small stone mortar.

Decommissioning

The centre of Mound A was re-cut for a cylindrical wooden container. This container measured c.0.65m in external diameter c.0.45m internal diameter x 0.72m maximum surviving length and was made of a single trunk. It had an external rebate seemingly to allow a composite wooden base to be bound in place. This had been replaced with quarried limestone slabs (Gabriel Cooney pers comm.) and a redeposited marl layer. Two holes of c.25mm diameter were cut into this rebate c.120mm apart. This container may have originally held a liquid.

Mounds A, C, D and E were all sealed with burnt cairn material forming a monument over each. A more extensive stone spread then sealed the cairn material including a number of lithic and bone finds as well as evidence for at least seven animal skulls (Mound C) and further crushed cremated bone including predominately cattle, sheep/goat, occasional pig, bird and small mammal. The lithic finds included three polished stone axes, a polished stone wedge, three polished stone pendants and at least three polished bone pins as well as leaf-shaped projectile points and scrapers. These final stone sealing layers appeared to have affectively consolidated access between the mounds creating an enduring monument.

Polished bone pin from Clowanstown 1

[Report by Matt Mossop, Archaeological Consultancy Ltd. On behalf of: Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd, 21 Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda. Archaeological Consultancy Ltd. Goodagrane, Halvasso, Penryn, Cornwall. TR10 9BX Phone : 01326 341 061 or Email : enquiries@archaeologicalconsultancy.com ]

Clowanstown 1 final excavation report

Clowanstown 2 final excavation report

Clowanstown 3 final excavation report

Other stories in the Irish Times this week noted the Hill of Tara and the M3 controversy. On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 the Times ran a story entitled, Looking to the music to lead us back', which stated:

""The Carnsore Point campaign of the 1970s and Self Aid in the 1980s are just two instances where artists sought to galvanise public opinion, to stimulate it into taking action about its own future. More recently, a contingent of Irish harpers marched to the Dáil in protest at the building of the motorway at Tara."

Another story in The Irish Times - Wed, Aug 26, 2009, 'How Meath's inland lighthouse became a mock monument,' as part of the Heritage Week Diary by Michael Harding said:

"I couldn’t avoid the ugliness of the industrial estate below me, just outside Kells. I couldn’t resist thinking about the hill of Tara in the distance, and the long, lacerating gash in the earth, where thousands of tonnes of cement have been poured on to the sleeping dead, to make a road for fast cars."

All these references show that the controversy over Tara is still high on the public agenda, and offer more opportunities for letters to be written to the editor of the The Irish Times -

PLEASE WRITE LETTERS - lettersed@irishtimes.com

and please sign and repost our petition to the UN:

http://www.tarawatch.org
info@tarawatch.org

Please sign the new UN MUST SAVE TARA PETITION

2009-07-30T12:19:00.001+01:00

TaraWatch has launched a new petition drive, to appeal to the United Nations to intervene in the Tara situation. Our goal is to reach 1,000,000 signatures, and to submit the petition to the UN Headquarters in New York City. If you are interested in joining this effort, please join TaraWatch USA and email us at info@tarawatch.org

UN MUST SAVE TARA PETITION TEXT

TO: THE UNITED NATIONS

The Hill of Tara, Ireland's premier national monument and internationally renowned cultural icon, is being desecrated by construction of the M3 motorway. The works are in breach of international law, which protects this site for humanity, and the United Nations must intervene now. Lying 30 miles north of Dublin, it was Ireland's capital for millennia; where over 142 kings were crowned, dating back to 3,000 BC. Since then, hundreds of monuments were built on the slopes and in the surrounding landscape. Today, the cultural landscape is defined by the remains of a number of defensive Iron Age hillforts which surround the Hill, lying approximately 2-3 miles away.

THE M3 MOTORWAY

The M3 motorway is being built by the Irish Government, in public private partnership with Siac and Ferrovial construction companies, through the centre of this landscape, and a 50 acre interchange is being built 1,000 metres from the summit. Already, dozens of archaeological sites within the landscape have been excavated and demolished, and construction is due to be completed in 2010.

CELEBRITY SUPPORT FOR THE TARAWATCH CAMPAIGN

The campaign to save Tara, and re-route the M3 motorway has reached a critical point. Celebrities such as Bono, Seamus Heaney, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Gabriel Byrne, Colm Toibin , Louis le Brocquy and Jim Fitzpatrick, supported by hundreds of international experts in Irish history, archaeology and mythology have spoken out against the M3 route. National surveys show that the vast majority of Irish people want Tara protected, and made into a UNESCO site.

Nobel Laureate, Seamus Heaney said:

If ever there was a place that deserved to be preserved in the name of the dead generations from pre-historic times up to historic times up to completely recently - it was Tara. I think it literally desecrates an area - I mean the word means to de-sacralise and for centuries the Tara landscape and the Tara sites have been regarded as part of the sacred ground.

TARA ON ENDANGERED LISTS

The World Monuments Fund, Smithsonian Institution and Sacred Sites International have placed Tara on endangered sites list, and others such as the International Celtic Congress, the Archaeological Institute of America, the Landmarks Foundation, the City of Chicago and the Massachusetts Archaeological Society have issued statements condemning the M3 route.

EUROPEAN COMMISSION v. IRELAND, LAWSUIT

The European Commission is currently taking a lawsuit against Ireland in the European Court of Justice against Ireland, for illegally demolishing the Lismullin national monument, which was discovered in the pathway of the M3 in 2007, after being voted on of the Top Ten Most Important Discoveries in the world in 2007 by Archaeology magazine. The Irish authorities refused to heed the Commission's demand that demolition be halted, and construction is proceeding despite the EU legal action.

DELAY OF UNESCO NOMINATION FOR TARA

The Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, has delayed nomination of the Hill of Tara to become a UNESCO site, until the M3 motorway is complete. UNESCO has stated that it cannot intervene, until Ireland completes the nomination, which was due to take place at the World Heritage Committee Meeting in Seville, in June 2009.

BREACHES OF UN LAW

It is clear that the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage protects all sites of outstanding universal value, even if they are not on the World Heritage List. Other UN agreements, such as the UN Global Compact, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, both human rights Covenants, and the UN Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples also require that Tara receive the highest level of protection possible.

APPEAL TO UN TO INTERVENE

The only body that can now intervene and save the Hill of Tara is the United Nations. This petition is directed to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, and asks that you intervene in the Tara crisis, and begin a problem-solving initiative, which will protect Tara and allow the M3 to be completed.

The UN must intervene now and enforce UN law, on behalf of the people of Ireland, the Irish Diaspora, and both the global community.

Signed,

____________________
[Please click here to sign]

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP SAVE TARA

Please forward this petition to:

- all of your friends

- local and national Irish cultural groups

- historical and archaeological organisations

- political representatives

WE MUST REACH OUR GOAL OF 1,000,000 signatures by Dec 31, 2009

JOIN TARAWATCH

TaraWatch Web Site

Hill of Tara UNESCO public consultation site, hosted by TaraWatch

TaraWatch Facebook Cause

TaraWatch Facebook Group

TaraWatch USA Facebook Group

TaraWatch Twitter

TaraWatch Yahoogroup

CONTACT TARAWATCH

Suite 108
The Capel Building
Mary's Abbey
Dublin 7
Republic of Ireland
353-87-132-3365
info@tarawatch.org

Save Tara campaign update | Letter-writing needed urgently

2009-07-18T10:25:00.001+01:00

Aerial photograph of human harp on Tara, 2007

Dear TaraWatch supporters,

Thank you for continuing to support the campaign to save the Hill of Tara from the M3 motorway in Ireland. A lot has happened recently, and we need your help, to keep the voice of opposition to the desecration of Tara alive. As you know, the Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, was supposed to submit Tara to UNESCO at the Seville World Heritage Committee meeting in June. This did not occur, but the Minister issued a statement on the matter yesterday, stating he will do it by the end of the year. The Minister also announced the Tara Skryne Landscape conservation programme. However, it still does not even define the area to be protected. It will have no statutory basis, and it quite clearly going to have a motorway going through the middle of it.

Coincidentally, the European Court of Justice is currently hearing arguments in the case being brought against Ireland by the European Commission, over the demolition of the Lismullin National Monument near Tara in 2007, which was discovered in the pathway of the M3 during excavations.

Letter-writing campaign

Two key newspaper articles were published today, and we are asking you to write letters to the editors, referencing the articles and making objections to Minister Gormley's actions. TaraWatch is seeking a right of reply, and we hope to reinforce that with your letters. Here are the letters and below is a press release we sent out in response to the Ministers statement. Please also send copies of letters directly to the Minister for the Environment at minister@environ.ie

New rules to protect Tara area

The Irish Times - Saturday, July 18, 2009 - By Olivia Kelly

NEW PROTECTIONS for the Tara-Skryne Valley, which would prevent the construction of retail parks and superstores along the route of the M3, have been announced by Minister for the Environment John Gormley. Mr Gormley said he could not prevent the construction of the motorway near the Hill of Tara, which continues to be the subject of protests by environmental and heritage groups, but he could protect the landscape to prevent inappropriate development.

In conjunction with Meath County Council, Mr Gormley proposed to designate the Tara-Skryne Valley a Special Conservation Area. This would protect the archeological and historic landscape and make it difficult for any construction to take place within the zone. However, Mr Gormley said it would in particular stop the type of large-scale development, such as shopping centres, or retail parks, which have been built along motorways in the past.

“This will ensure that the very negative sort of development associated with motorways will not impinge on the area . . . the sort of motorway development we’ve seen in the past, the BQs, that would not be acceptable.” The plans for the designation, which has been allocated €50,000 funding from the Department of the Environment and the Heritage Council, will have to be submitted for public consultation and agreed by Meath county councillors before the designation is confirmed. It is likely that the protection will be in place by the middle of next year. Mr Gormley said he also intended to increase the protection for national monuments in the new National Monument’s Act, which is currently at draft stage.

WRITE TO lettersed@irishtimes.com

Shops and malls to be banned at historic Tara site

Irish Independent - Saturday July 18 2009 - By Paul Melia

MAJOR developments including shopping centres and retail parks will not be allowed to be built off the controversial M3 motorway near the Hill of Tara. The Tara Skryne Valley, one of the most archaeologically rich areas in the country, will be officially designated as a Landscape Conservation Area, which will ban major developments and ensure the landscape is left intact, Environment Minister John Gormley announced yesterday. And he said he was fully committed to nominating the Hill of Tara as a UNESCO World Heritage site when Ireland draws up its shortlist of sites at the end of the year. He added that a new National Monuments Act would mean that road developments would not take place in areas rich with archaeology.

"I am pleased to announce details in relation to a proposed new landscape management project which has been initiated to establish a Landscape Conservation Area in the Tara-Skryne area," he said. "The new landscape conservation zone for Tara Skryne will protect the area from development damage . . . This is the first landscape conservation area ever. We have to learn lessons from the past, there's no question mistakes have been made and mistakes must be rectified."

The National Monuments Act will also see a single Register of Monuments established instead of historic monuments being recorded on a number of lists, and improved recognition of and protection for archaeology under planning legislation. Chairman of the Heritage Council, Conor Newman, added that the legislation would close "serious weaknesses" in the law. "For those of us who spent years trying to protect Tara, the work (M3) exposed serious weaknesses in our legislation," he said. "Protecting the landscape is something we want to see. No one wants to freeze the landscape, just manage change." The landscape conservation area status will be made next year when the exact zone of protection will be identified.

WRITE TO independent.letters@unison.ie

TARAWATCH USA

The TaraWatch USA Facebook group already has 2,000 members, after only one week. It is a part of the global Save Tara campaign, being operated by on Facebook by TaraWatch, which has over 13,000 members.

The aim of the group is to hold a demonstration outside the UN building in New York Sity, and to submit a petition to the UN, asking for intervention on the Tara issue.

The proposal is to take an aerial photograph of a couple of thousand people in front of the building, wearing green or spelling a slogan, such as was done at Tara in 2007 with the human harp.

The date of the event is not confirmed, but we are aiming to do it during Heritage Week in Ireland, part of European Heritage Days, 22nd to the 30th of August 2009.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT

info@tarawatch.org

http://www.tarawatch.org
http://www.hilloftara.info

+353-87-132-3365

Tara Parliamentary Group Proposed, to Launch Problem-Solving Initiative

2009-07-02T19:28:00.001+01:00

Senator David Norris (left) reads parliamentary Questions while Vincent Salafia talks to Shane McEntee, TD (FG)

Tarawatch seeks parliamentary group

Irish Times - Breaking News: 02 July 2009

ÉANNA Ó CAOLLAÍ

Campaign group Tarawatch has written to members of the Oireachtas inviting them to establish a parliamentary group with the intention of lobbying Government on issues relating to the Hill of Tara. Several opposition and independent TDs and Senators, including newly-elected Dublin Central TD Maureen O’Sullivan and Senator David Norris were presented with a list of questions for the Government by members of Tarawatch at Dáil Éireann yesterday.

Tarawatch spokesman Vincent Salafia subsequently wrote to the politicians who attended asking them to establish a parliamentary group. He said the group would not only seek to identify a solution to protect the national monument but would also attempt to find a solution that would meet the needs of sustainable development and transport in Co Meath.

“We feel that it is the responsibility of the elected representatives both at European and national level to work in a co-operative manner on this,” Mr Salafia said today. “It would be a platform for all the groups involved to present their opinions and have their say in what the final outcome is. Tara belongs to everybody in Ireland. The majority of Irish people want to have Tara protected. Its not that it’s against the M3 per se - most of the people who want to protect Tara are quite happy for the M3 to proceed – they just don’t want it to go where it is."

PRESS RELEASE - TARAWATCH - 2 July 2009

'Tara Parliamentary Group Proposed, to Launch Problem-Solving Initiative'

In the wake of the successful delegation to the Oireachtas yesterday, TaraWatch has proposed a 'Group for the Protection of the Hill of Tara', to be composed of Oireachtas members and MEPs.

The following letter was sent to Oireachtas members and MEPs today:

02 July 2009

Dear Parliamentarian,

Thank you for meeting our delegation outside Dail Eireann yesterday, and listening to our concerns about the Hill of Tara and the M3 motorway. As you can see from the long list of parliamentary questions, concerning the growing problems at Tara:

- the proposed nomination of Tara as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which may be rejected by UNESCO;

- the ongoing European Commission lawsuit against Ireland over Lismullin; and

- the Navan to Dublin Railway, and the North-South Electrical Connector, which are also proposed to be routed through the proposed World Heritage Site.

In order to address these mounting problems, TaraWatch is proposing that a Parliamentary Group for the Protection of the Hill of Tara, consisting of Oireachtas members and MEPs is established. The Group could monitor the various issues, and embark on a problem-solving initiative, to find a solution that best protects the national monument of Hill of Tara and also meets the needs of sustainable development and transport in County Meath.

The Oireachtas members who met us yesterday, and took a strong interest in the Tara issue were:

- Shane McEntee, TD, Fine Gael
- Joanna Tuffey,TD, Labour
- Aengus O Snodaigh, TD, Martin Ferris, TD, and Arthur Morgan, TD, Sinn Fein
- Maureen O’Sullivan, TD, Independent
- Senator David Norris

In addition, TaraWatch has received letters of support from:

- Joe Higgins, MEP, Socialist Party
- Marian Harkin, MEP, Independent

While there has always been a need for a non-partisan approach to the protection of Tara, we agree it would be best to begin with the non-Governmental parties and Independents. Please let us know if you would like to be a part of such a group.

Kind regards,

Vincent Salafia

Opposition TDs and Senators Pledge to Challenge Government Over M3 Motorway

2009-07-02T19:24:00.002+01:00

Maureen O'Sullivan TD (Ind) takes Parliamentary Questions from Vincent Salafia of TaraWatch, with Aengus O Snodaigh (left) and Martin Ferris (Sinn Fein) behind

PRESS RELEASE - TARAWATCH - 1 July 2009

‘Opposition TDs and Senators Pledge to Challenge Government Over M3 Motorway’

A delegation of approximately 30 TaraWatch members met with Opposition TDs and Senators at the Kildare Street gates of the Dail today, at 1.00 pm. They were handed a series of Parliamentary Questions, for the Ministers for Transport, Environment and Finance, relating to the EU and UNESCO issues at the Hill of Tara. They also asked Oireachtas members to demand a halt to the M3 works at Tara until the European Commission case against Ireland, currently being heard in the European Court of Justice, reaches a decision.

Maureen O’Sullivan, the Independent TD who won the late Tony Gregory’s Dail set in the by-election, said:

“I am happy to meet you and hear your concerns. Deputy Gregory was very much opposed to the M3 at Tara, and made many statements against it.”

Fine Gael Meath TD, Shane McEntee, said:

“Fine Gael is opposed to the tolling of the M3, but we are in favour of jobs for Meath.” When it was pointed out by Vincent Salafia of TaraWatch that a re-routing of the M3 motorway, which could be order by UNESCO, would result in more jobs Meath, he laughed and agreed.

Labour Party TD, Joanna Tuffy, promised to submit Parliamentary Questions and said:

“I am very much in favour of the UNESCO designation of Tara, and will ask Mr Gormley why he delayed submitting the nomination to UNESCO at the Meeting in Seville last week, as promised.

Sinn Fein sent three deputies, Aengus Ó Snodaigh, Arthur Morgan and Martin Ferris to met the TaraWatch delegation. Aengus O Snodaigh said:

“Sinn Fein will submit all of the Parliamentary Questions. We remain absolutely opposed the destruction of Tara by the Government and the private companies.

Senator David Norris also offered his support, and complimented the delegation on their commitment. Though he cannot submit Parliamentary Questions as a Senator, he promised to use the materials in other ways, and raise the issue in the Seanad at the soonest opportunity.

However, Green Party TD, Ciaran Cuffe, who had been a strong vocal opponent to the M3 at Tara snubbed the delegation and walked by without comment.

TaraWatch spokesperson Laura Grealish said:

“We are delighted with obvious concern in the Oireachtas over the the Tara M3 issue, and look forward to getting answer to our questions from the Government. We will be continuing to campaign on the issue by making an appeal to the UN during the upcoming visit of the UN Secretary General to Ireland.

ENDS

Brussels takes Ireland to court over Lismullen monument

Meath Chronicle: Wednesday, 1st July, 2009 By Ann Casey

The Government is in the dock in Europe this week over the demolition of a newly discovered national monument at Lismullen in 2007, which occurred during works on the M3 motorway. The European Commission is taking Ireland to the European Court of Justice and the case opened last week with the Commission arguing that the decision taken by former Environment Minister, Dick Roche, in 2007 to demolish the newly discovered national monument was contrary to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive, which requires independent scientific opinion and public participation.

The Commission says that the National Monuments Act fails to implement the Directive by automatically requiring a new EIA when a national monument is discovered, which was not covered by planning permission. Because the pre-historic site at Lismullen was only identified in 2007, its significance could not be taken into account in a 2003 assessment of the motorway project. Meanwhile, TaraWatch will hold a demonstration outside Dail Eireann at 1pm today (Wednesday) to demand that the Government halt work on the M3 within the Hill of Tara landscape due to the lawsuit.

A number of questions will also be handed to opposition party Oireachtas members at the Dail gates. The questions will be addressed to Ministers for the Environment, Transport and Finance and will query why the Government demolished the Lismullin national monument and why Minister John Gormley opposed the Environment Directive. They are also querying what the financial implications would be if Ireland loses the case. TaraWatch will also ask Opposition parties to join in an appeal to UN Secretary General General Ban Ki-moon for intervention during his upcoming visit to Ireland on next week.

TaraWatch spokesperson, Vincent Salafia, said: “The Government and the public private partners have acted recklessly by proceeding with the M3 and demolishing the Lismullin national monument, despite the statement by the European Commission in 2007 that they were acting in breach of EU law. “Works on the M3 in the Tara landscape and proposed World Heritage Site should cease, until the case being argued this week in the European Court of Justice reaches a conclusion.” Mr Salafia said that enormous amounts of taxpayers’ money was being wasted by the Government in fighting this case, and the consequences of a decision against Ireland could be disastrous. “We are calling on the Opposition parties to take the Government to task on this and to support our appeal to the UN to intervene in this matter,” he said.

Sunday Tribune - David Kenny: A word to Gormley on his new archaeology Code: Tara

2009-06-28T14:36:00.002+01:00

A word to Gormley on his new archaeology code: Tara

By David Kenny

Sunday Tribune - 28 June 2009

“THIS boys,” said Mr Halpin, “will stay with you forever. I hope it makes a big impact.”

Ordinarily, whenever a teacher spoke of making an ‘impact’ at St Joseph’s National School in Glasthule, you started sweating. It normally involved the crack of a bamboo cane. Not on this occasion though. We were about to see something historic. Besides, Halpin always preferred sarcasm to brutality.

He was a bit of a hero. He played Mungo Jerry records in class and showed us how to make free plectrums out of detergent bottles. He also liked cartoons and had a wit as dry as a pub on Good Friday. He seemed to actually like us.

The historic occasion took place on a trip to the National Library in 1979. Myself and two other 11-year-olds, Cianan and Mick, were to choose books for the school. The four of us clowned the day away with Mr Halpin leading the laughter. Afterwards, he took us to see a part of Dublin he hoped we’d remember forever. He hoped seeing it would make an impact on our young minds. It did.

I can still see, through a gap in the hoarding, the muddy timber steps of Wood Quay. “This is going,” he said. “The council is covering it with concrete.” All the way home we simmered with anger, fuelled by his. He told us how protestors had found swords in the builders’ rubble and how the city walls had been razed. He explained how the quay had been named a national monument but the government destroyed it anyway. He told us the only people who wanted the ugly new buildings were politicians.

I still get angry when I pass Wood Quay. Halpin had given us a mental snapshot of our disappearing history. I’ll always have it in my head. Last week, I saw Wood Quay again when John Gormley announced a new archaeological code of practice to protect our monuments. There was the clang of a rusty gate being bolted and the distant neighing of a horse. This is the man who sold Tara to get into bed with Fianna Fail – the party which was responsible for Wood Quay.

Despite being ‘Green’, he has done nothing to halt the M3 ploughing through the Tara/Skryne valley. Instead he has concentrated on defending his predecessor’s demolition of the Lismullin national monument which lay in its way.

Dick Roche contravened European law by failing to commission an environmental impact study on the site. The government has now spent huge sums fighting the European Commission over the issue.

Gormley also spent a bundle drafting last week’s Eirgrid Code of Practice. If the European Court finds against Ireland, the National Monuments Act will have to be amended and the code will have to be redrafted. More money flushed away.

The M3 tolls will go out of Meath to a multinational. More waste.

The mishandling of Tara proves, conclusively, that we are being governed by profligate idiots. The M3 should never have been routed through Tara/Skryne. It was always going to throw up monuments like Lismullin and lead to costly court battles. The obvious thing to do was to route to the west of Tara, avoiding the valley.

The Greens campaigned against the M3. The World Monuments Fund and the Smithsonian Institution have placed it on their their ‘endangered’ lists. Gormley is still pushing ahead with it though.

In December, he hired 15 experts to help draft a list of sites, including Tara, to nominate to Unesco for world heritage status at its annual meeting last Tuesday. No list was delivered.

TaraWatch is continuing its campaign to re-route the road with a protest at the Dail this Wednesday (1pm). They will ask Gormley why the Unesco list wasn’t submitted as it would have tested the M3’s impact on Tara’s heritage status. They will also tell him that his new archaeological code of practice is meaningless while Tara is being vandalised.

Gormley’s betrayal of Tara/Skryne is endorsing Fianna Fail’s traditional approach to the environment – “cover it over with concrete”. That party’s love of unbridled development is the reason why places like Meath became an overspill for Dublin and why its roads desperately need to be improved. They mustn’t be improved at the expense of Tara. It’s bound up with our history. For 800 years it tied our ancestors to a legendary past which was ultimately used to stir up revolution and create our Republic.

The world sees Tara as our spiritual centre. It even features in one of the most popular novels/films of all time. Scarlett O’Hara’s plantation is named after it in Gone With the Wind. Her fictional Tara represents the Irish emigrant’s longing for home. Our real one now stands for longing to get home from work quicker. We need Unesco to protect Tara from ourselves.

Our generation stood by as the government over-developed our country. What will our legacy be? Some Namaesque hulks of buildings? Some half-built estates? A concrete dagger through the heart of Tara? Is this what we want to leave behind for future schoolchildren and young teachers like the late Mr Halpin?

I can imagine him surveying the M3 and sardonically quoting Scarlett’s famous line: “Is Tara still standing or is it gone with the wind?”

Scarlet? He’d be crimson with anger.

WRITE TO: editorial@tribune.ie

Join our Save Tara protest outside Dail Eireann, Kildare St, Dublin, Wed 1 July, 1.00pm

2009-06-24T13:12:00.003+01:00

TaraWatch will hand in a series of Parliamentary Questions (PQs), to be made by members of the Oireachtas and Senate at 1.00pm on Wednesday, 1 July, outside Dail Eireann. Please come down and support us.

Thanks so much to those of you, whether near or far, who supported our demonstration yesterday. We had the Irish Times, Irish Examiner, Photocall, 98FM, International News Network, and Epoch Times covering the story. So, given the week that's in it, let's build on that.

Do you have any ideas for questions for your public representatives? Questions need to be divided between Ministers for Transport, Environment, Finance, etc. They also need to be tailored for different political parties, such as tolls for Fine Gael because they don't care about heritage. Please email ideas to info@tarawatch.org

Some possible topics might include:

- How much money has Gormley spent on the UNESCO consultation?

- Explain: why the Tentative List was not submitted to UNESCO in Seville?

- How much money has the Minister spent on employing outside counsel to defend the case against Ireland over Lismullin?

- What does the Government propose to do if they lose the case in the European Court of Justice?

- What will the financial implications be if the Government loses?

- What is the current cost of the tolls proposed for the M3?

- How much has the M3 cost so far?

NEWS STORIES

Group calls for Gormley resignation

Irish Times - Breaking News - 24 June 2009

Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Governement John Gormley must resign due to his failure to protect Irish heritage sites, representatives of the Save Tara campaign have said.

Members of TaraWatch, the organisation which runs the campaign, held a protest outside Custom House in Dublin today to voice their dissatisfaction with the minister, who they say has reneged on promises to nominate Irish cultural areas such at the Hill of Tara, the Burren and Clonmacnoise to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which meets in Seville today.

"He has totally reneged on his statutory duties to protect Irish heritage and the Irish environment," said spokesman for the campaign Vincent Salafia.

The group was also critical of the minister's decision to demolish the Lismullin national monument in order to make way for further developments to the M3 motorway.

The move has led to the European Commission bringing a case against Ireland to the European Court of Justice, alleging that the Government here has failed to implement the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive.

Mr Salafia is confident that the European Commission will be successful in the case and said that "by failing to let the EU or UNESCO protect Irish heritage sites, John Gormley has done the exact opposite of what a Minister for the Environment is supposed to do."

WRITE TO lettersed@irishtimes.com

Campaigners Target Gormley

Irish Examiner - 24 June 2009

ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners have criticised Environment Minister John Gormley for the delay in submitting the Hill of Tara for consideration as a world protected heritage site.

Members of TaraWatch, the organisation dedicated to the protection of Tara as a priceless archaeological site, picketed the Green Party leader's office yesterday at the launch of their 'Gormley Must Go' campaign.

The demonstration coincided with a UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting in Seville.

WRITE TO letters@examiner.ie

http://www.tarawatch.org

http://www.hilloftara.info

Launch of GORMLEY MUST GO! Campaign Tomorrow at Custom House

2009-06-22T13:27:00.001+01:00

PRESS RELEASE - TARAWATCH - 22 June 2009

'Launch of GORMLEY MUST GO! Campaign Tomorrow at Custom House'

TaraWatch will launch its GORMLEY MUST GO! campaign with a rally at Custom House, tomorrow at 12.00 noon. It will be first in a series of demonstrations, highlighting the Minister's failings. The aim of the campaign is to call on Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, to resign over his failure to protect the Hill of Tara, and other internationally important heritage sites around Ireland.

Minister Gormley broke his promise to present UNESCO with a revised list of Ireland's nominations for World Heritage Site, in Seville, tomorrow. The list was to include Tara, the Burren, Clonmacnoise, Kells, the Cliffs of Moher and many other important Irish sites. Despite employing 15 consultants, and conducting an expensive and lengthy public consultation process, he will not present the nominations to UNESCO as planned.

Minister Gormley has been spending vest amounts of taxpayers money hiring outside legal counsel to defend a lawsuit from the European Commission, over the demolition of the Lismullin national monument. The case is being heard this week before the European Court of Justice, and could result in the M3 being re-routed, after millions have been spent on construction.

The Green Party had campaigned to protect the Hill of Tara from the M3, and a lot of people voted for Gormley in the belief he would take action as Minister. However, having used Tara and other issues to get elected, Gormley promised silence and inaction in order to become Minister. Since then, he has failed in his constitutional duty to protect the environment and heritage.

Vincent Salafia said:

"Minister Gormley has done the exact opposite of what a Minister for the Environment is supposed to do.

"Not only that, but he is spending vast amounts of money trying to prevent the EU and UNESCO from doing his job for him, and has exposed the Irish taxpayer to huge expense by fighting the European Commission.

"Minister Gormley must resign, as he holds only 2% of popularity in the electorate, and has failed miserably in his job.

ENDS

Minister Fails to Nominate Hill of Tara as UNESCO Site - Urgent Letter-writing campaign to Irish newspapers

2009-06-16T13:33:00.000+01:00

PRESS RELEASE - TARAWATCH - 10 June 2009

"Gormley Will Not Present Irish Sites to UNESCO at Seville Meeting"

The Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, has failed to finalise Ireland' proposed Tentative List of UNESCO Sites, and his Department will not present the Tentative List to the 33rd Session of the World Heritage Committee in Seville, 22-20 June. This means that possible nomination of Tara and other sites in Ireland will be delayed by a year.
The Minister had advertised a public consultation process last December, calling for nominations to Ireland's Tentative List. An advisory document sent out a 15-member panel of consultants (Expert Advisory group), said:

"Taking into account the feedback/output from the public consultation fora and interactive website, the Expert Advisory Group will identify the appropriate sites/properties/themes for inclusion on the new Tentative List. The new draft Tentative List will then be submitted to the Minister for his agreement by the middle of April 2009. The intention is to forward the list to the WH Centre in time for the World Heritage Committee 33rd Session in Seville in July 2009."

Ray Connell, of the Department of the Environment, has confirmed that the Expert Advisory group has failed to set up an interactive web site, for public consultation and failed to compile a new Tentative List. Instead, the List will be submitted by mail, thus avoiding oral presentation at the World Heritage Committee meeting, and preventing any public objections. TaraWatch nominated the Hill of Tara to be a World Heritage Site, but only on condition that the M3 motorway is re-routed first. Our position is supported by the World Monuments Fund and the Smithsonian Institution.

Vincent Salafia of TaraWatch said:

"John Gormley is delaying the UNESCO nomination of the Hill of Tara, and other Irish sites by a year. The Minister has breached the public consultation guidelines, by failing to submit the proposed List of World Heritage Sites to UNESCO at the upcoming World Heritage Committee Meeting in Seville this month.

"The Minister's delay is preventing Observers from making oral objections at the World Heritage Committee Meeting, in Seville. The Minister's delay is also ensuring that the M3 is completed, before UNESCO is brought into the equation, and it is too late to save Tara.

ENDS

URGENT LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN

Dear TaraWatch supporters,

We need you to urgently write a letter to the Irish Newspapers and complain that the Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, leader of the Irish green Party, has broken his promise to nominate the Hill of Tara as a UNESCO site, at the World Heritage Committee Meeting in Seville, June 23-30.

Here are the relevant newspapers and addresses, with the last article on Tara/M3 referenced, to use as a hook for the letter:

Diarmuid Doyle's article, from the Sunday Tribune last week offers a good opportunity to write letters. Write to editorial@tribune.ie

The Irish Times can be reached at lettersed@irish-times.ie and the last articles mentioning Tara and UNESCO are:
M3 motorway 'ahead of schedule'
Tara endangered, says Smithsonian
Tara proposed as Unesco world heritage site

The Irish Independent can be reached at indpendent.letters@unison.independent.ie
recently had an article about the windfall of profits made by landowners

The Irish Examiner takes letters without a reference to an article, of which there have been very few. letters@examiner.ie

The Meath Chronicle has been active lately, and can be reached at ken@meathchronicle.ie
Recent stories on Tara / M3 include:
Hill of Tara nominated for World Heritage Site status
Hill of Tara included in review of heritage sites
New dual carriageway to M3 interchange opens in Navan

Please try and write a letter, pointing out that Gormley decided to make Tara a World Heritage Site last December. He spent a lot of money employing 15 consultants to sit on an Expert Advisory Panel, to conduct the public consultation, and the stated aim was to submit the revised Tentative List to UNESCO at the Seville meeting in June. Now, that is not going to happen. Why?

'Woodhenge' found in Hill of Tara's soil

2009-04-25T21:24:00.002+01:00

'Woodhenge' found in Hill of Tara's soil - Computers bring 4,500-year-old monument to life

Sunday Times - Ireland | April 12, 2009 By Gabrielle Monaghan

Ireland's “Stonehenge”, a 4,500-year-old structure at the Hill of Tara in Co Meath, has been re-created by archeologists and computer-graphics experts. They have built a representation of a huge, wooden monument that appears to have been used for inauguration ceremonies and pagan burials of Ireland’s high kings. Underground remains of the structure were discovered by soil x-rays of the hill, which has been at the centre of an international dispute because of its proximity to the new M3 motorway. The model, to be shown on an RTE television documentary this week, was created using information gathered from studying a ditch, six metres wide and three deep, cut into the bedrock of the hill and enclosing the Mound of Hostages, an ancient passage tomb.

Study of the remains of tree trunks have prompted scientists to conclude the hill was once surrounded by a “wooden version of Stonehenge” that would have been 250 metres in diameter, a “massive scale” similar in size to Croke Park. Archeologists believe elaborately decorated timber posts and crossbars rose out of the ditch and surrounded the tomb, which is believed to be Tara’s oldest monument. It is estimated the mound was raised in about 3,000BC, making it a contemporary of Stonehenge, the ancient monument in the English county of Wiltshire, and the pyramids of Egypt.

Tara was the coronation place of the country’s pre- Christian kings. A pillar stone, the Lia Fail, originally stood at the northern end of the Mound of Hostages and legend had it that when the true king of Ireland stood on this phallic symbol, it would roar. Robert Vance, a historian who worked on the two-part RTE series, entitled Secrets of the Stones — Decoding Ireland’s Lost Past, and the author of an accompanying book of the same name, said there are a number of theories about what the wooden henge was used for.

“Part of the inauguration of new kings involved walking to the banqueting hall, which was really just a low subterranean channel, and passing the tombs of their forefathers,” Vance said. “Perhaps they were then made kings in the centre of that timber circle. But there’s also a chance bodies of kings were left within the timber structure to decay. In some excavations, bones of birds were found as well. So it’s possible \ took place there, in which winged raptors such as eagles were used to deflesh the body. Pagan people of similar beliefs in native America and Polynesia thought that using birds to pick away at the body would allow the soul to become free.”

Using high-definition, computer-generated imagery, a vision of the circular arena at the Hill of Tara was created for the documentary. It posits catastrophic events 4,000 years ago may have caused a change in our ancestors’ beliefs At around this time, there is evidence Ireland’s passage tombs were abandoned in favour of “new monuments and new gods” and people were never buried in them again. One theory is that a long spell of bad weather could have led people to change their beliefs. According to studies of ancient trees preserved in Ireland’s bogs, a growth pause caused by climate change occurred at this time, suggesting that some catastrophic event might have left people in fear. Another theory is that a volcano in the 6th century may have frightened pagan Celts Celts into believing in “new” gods because of the weather changes caused when the dust reflected light and heat away from the Earth.

Vance believes, however, that the event that led people to change their beliefs was more likely a comet during the Bronze Age, which partly disintegrated and sent fireballs and flaming debris across the sky. “We see such comet debris as shooting stars in the night sky. To our ancestors, these were terrifying heavenly signs,” he said. The comet would also have triggered a dust veil that caused temperatures to plunge. “The old-style temples like Newgrange weren’t powerful enough to compete with this new object in the sky,” according to the documentary. “It was enough to make these ancient people question their very beliefs. Did the prehistoric passage tomb builders abandon their religion in the face of something they couldn’t understand, something that nearly wiped them out?”

In February, Tara was included in a list of “must-see” endangered sites by a magazine published by the Smithsonian Institute, one of America’s most influential museums. The site was equated with the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Tara has also been nominated for inclusion as a Unesco World Heritage site, and TaraWatch, a pressure group, claims the M3 should be re- routed as a result. The National Roads Authority says work on the M3 is ahead of schedule and it could be finished before the July 2010 deadline. “The existing road to Navan is even closer to the Hill of Tara, and the new motorway won’t be seen from the hill, so it doesn’t visually impinge on it,” Vance said.

Part One of the documentary aired on at 6.30pm on RTE 1. Part 2 will air on May 5.

SIGN THE SAVE TARA PETITION

Contact - info@tarawatch.org

TaraWatch Looks Across the Atlantic for Support

2009-04-25T21:18:00.002+01:00

TaraWatch Looks Across the Atlantic for Support

Epoch Times - Apr 14, 2009 - By Martin Murphy

The M3 motorway is still under construction but TaraWatch have not given up their hopes of saving the Irish historical site called "The Hill of Tara" and surrounding monuments; help may be on its way from across the Atlantic. TaraWatch Public Relations Officer, Vincent Salafia, has just finished a publicity tour of the United States, where he met with representatives of both archaeological and Native American institutions.

I asked the TaraWatch representative why he felt he had to travel abroad to get support even though we had the Green Party in Government here in Ireland. Mr Salafia said with respect to the Green Party “They have been absolutely abysmal ... Tara was on the table when they were negotiating their terms for government ... the Greens basically traded off our backs. “We feel very betrayed by the Green party and we do not hold out any hope that they will do anything proactive in terms of saving Tara.”

While in the USA Mr Salafia met with the World Monuments Fund, in New York City, after submitting the nomination for the Hill of Tara to be on their 2010 List of Most Endangered Sites (Tara is on the current list.) “We were trying to mobilise them and get them involved in the UNESCO confrontation by supporting our argument.” TaraWatch's argument being that the motorway should be re-routed rather than having a UNESCO site with a motorway running right through it. Mr Salafia said “We are afraid that what will happen here in Ireland will be similar to what happened in Stonehenge in England, the motorway was completed and then UNESCO said the motorway had to be moved. “So it could be economically viable to move the road here now even though it's under construction, we still have not given up on the campaign.”

Mr Salafia explained that while in the US he made a presentation to the Council on Archaeology at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and asked them to sign a statement calling for the M3 motorway to be re-routed, before Tara is declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Vincent Salafia told The Epoch Times that he was also trying to drum up support from the likes of Mr Daniel M. Rooney the next United States Ambassador to Ireland. According to Mr Salafia a number of US bodies have made statements on the issue which can be found on the Save Tara website www.hilloftara.info. “There is massive interest and support from Irish American and indeed all Americans, particularly the academics... the Smithsonian Magazine recently listed Tara on their ten must see sights before they disappear.”

Mr Salafia also met with representatives of Native American tribes, and proposed a gathering of indigenous peoples on the Hill of Tara, during Heritage Week, in late August. TaraWatch is currently in talks with indigenous peoples in Australia and Africa, as well as North America and Canada, regarding the proposed event. It was Mr Salafia hopes that with this new support a process of engagement and problem solving could restart.

Meath County Council Fails to Nominate the Hill of Tara as a UNESCO Site

2009-03-23T13:49:00.000+01:00

PRESS RELEASE - TARAWATCH.org - 23 March 2009

'Meath County Council Fails to Nominate the Hill of Tara as a UNESCO Site'

Meath County Council has failed to nominated the Hill of Tara as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of Minister Gormley's public consultation, a recently released Department of Environment document shows. This could prove fatal to the nomination of the Hill of Tara made by third parties, including the Meath Archaeological and Historical Society and TaraWatch.

TaraWatch alleges this omission is a breach of the Meath County Development Plan, which contains a "mandatory obligation on the Council" regarding the "conservation and protection of the environment, including, in particular, the archaeological and natural heritage" as well as "the preservation of the character of the landscape." However, Meath County Council, which already manages the Bend of the Boyne World Heritage Site, did nominate 'Monastic Kells' to be a UNESCO site, as part of the public consultation.

The Hill of Tara received 6 out of the total of 31 nominations received by the Expert Advisory Panel, Chaired by Lord Hankey, which was set up by Minister Gormley to review Ireland's Tentative List of UNESCO sites and conduct the consultation between Dec 1 and Jan 31. The second phase of the public consultation is due to begin shortly, after the Minister publishes the proposed Tentative List, to be presented to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee Meeting in Seville this summer. The implications of Meath County Council's failure to nominate the Hill of Tara will be discussed at a round table event in Trinity College Dublin tomorrow, entitled "The Hill of Tara, UNESCO and the human right to culture." It will be held in the Jonathan Swift Theatre at 7.30. Admission free.

Vincent Salafia of TaraWatch said:

"Meath County Council's refusal to nominate the Hill of Tara as a World Heritage Site is a clear failure in their duty to protect Ireland's heritage, and a breach of their own County Development Plan. This failure by Meath is a clear breach of the human rights of all Irish people to enjoy their culture. It is absurd that Lough Gur is being nominated by Limerick, while Tara is not being nominated by Meath, which claims to be the Heritage Capital of Ireland. This month Smithsonian Magazine placed Tara on a list of 10 must-see sites before they disappear, which highlights the continued bad faith on the part of Meath County Council.

Contact - Vincent Salafia 087-132-3365 / Laura Grealish 087-972-8603

Other nominations included:

- The Burren & Cliffs of Moher: Clare County Council
- Cork harbour: Cork County Council
- Tory island: Donegal County Council
- St Brendan's Cathedral and Aran Islands: Galway County Council
- Lough Gur: Limerick County Council
- Clonmacnoise: Longford County Council
- Ceide Fields and NW Mayo Bogs: Mayo County Council
- Rathcroghan Archaeological Complex: Roscommon County Council
- Glendalough Monastic Settlement: Wicklow County

Links:

DOE Index of proposals

DOE World Heritage Review

Meath County Development Plan (2007-2013) Chapter 8 'Cultural, Heritage and Landscape Protection

Details of Hill of Tara Round Table - TCD - 24 March

The Hill of Tara Round Table - Meeting One - 24 March

2009-03-15T22:55:00.003+01:00

The Hill of Tara - Round Table - Meeting One

Be a part of the solution, not the problem!

Lectures and panel discussion, hosted by

The Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Trinity College Dublin and TaraWatch

Jonathan Swift Theatre - Trinity College Dublin

Tues, 24 March 2009 - 7.30 pm - 9.00 pm.

Admission free - All welcome

This will be Meeting One of the The Hill of Tara Round Table, a problem-solving initiative, aimed at finding a mutually beneficial solution to the Hill of Tara / M3 motorway problem.

There will be a focus on the UNESCO World Heritage Site nomination of the Hill of Tara, as well as the public consultation currently being conducted by the Department of the Environment, Heritage, and Local Government, on Ireland's List of Tentative UNESCO Sites.

There will also be lectures on the law of the human right to culture and the protection of cultural heritage sites in Ireland, in order to stimulate debate on the value of Tara, and cultural sites.

All stakeholders, such a heritage and environmental groups, community groups, historians and archaeologists, political parties and others interested in the Hill of Tara / M3 issue, are encouraged to participate in what will be a very challenging process - to find a solution for the M3 problem at Tara.

Speakers

- Sean Goggins (NUI Galway, Irish Centre for Human Rights) on human right to culture;

- Meghan Aibigail (NUI Galway/University of Texas Law School) on UNESCO and protecting cultural heritage;

- Sue Redican on the UNESCO nomination of the Great Blasket Islands;

- Vincent Salafia, TaraWatch - The UNESCO nomination of the Hill of Tara and other sites.

More information

Phone 3530871323365
Email: info@tarawatch.org

Sign our petition at http://www.savetarapetition.net

UK universities pension fund USS profits from M3 while Irish public pensions are cut to pay for construction

2009-03-12T00:21:00.003+01:00

The Financial Times published a story called Ferrovial faces revolt over Cintra move on 11 March 2009. It described how toll company Cintra shareholders are rebelling against plans by construction Ferrovial, its parent comppany, to fully subsume Cintra. One of the group of investors rebelling is the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), which is the second largest pension fund for universities in the UK and Northern Ireland. Cintra is the tolling concessionaire for the M3 motorway, and Ferrovial is the construction company building it. Cintra shareholders, including USS, will profit from the M3, while pensions of public servants are being levied, in order to pay for the construction costs of the M3. Many academics in the UK and Northern Ireland, who protested against the M3, will be shocked to hear that it will be contributing to their pensions. Hundreds signed letters of protest to the M3, and they must now force USS to revolt and take an ethical stand on the M3. Such actions have occurred in the past, when People and Plant led a campaign for ethical investment in USS.

PRESS RELEASE

TARAWATCH.org

11 March 2009

‘Complaint Made to UK Universities Pensions Fund USS Over M3 Motorway at Tara’

TaraWatch wrote today to the UK universities pension fund, Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), who are institutional investors in Cintra, the subsidiary of Ferrovial, who are building the M3 motorway, to inform them of the ethical investment issues involved with the Hill of Tara and to ask for stakeholder engagement.

The Universities Superannuation Scheme is a pension scheme in the United Kingdom. Its members include academic and academic-related staff (including senior administrative staff) in certain United Kingdom universities. It claims to be “the second largest pension scheme in the UK by fund size.”

The complaint was made to USS after the Financial Times today published an article entitled, ‘Ferrovial faces revolt over Cintra move’, which revealed that USS is among a groups of shareholders who are in revolt against plans by
Ferrovial to completely take over Cintra. The article states:

“In a letter to Cintra’s board, Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) of the UK, together with the State of New Jersey and Australian infrastructure fund managers CP2 and Magellan Asset Management, say the deal would give them “unwanted exposure to operations in new sectors and geographic regions” and that they want to be compensated for the “substantially greater risk profile of Ferrovial shares [compared with] Cintra shares”.

TaraWatch has informed USS that dozens of leading academics, from notable institutions all around the UK and Northern Ireland have publicly denounced the M3 route, and have sought to have it altered. USS was informed that TaraWatch will be writing to these academics, to inform them that they may in fact be investors in the M3.

Vincent Salafia of TaraWatch said:

“We have written to USS to ask for stakeholder engagement, and to inform them that many of their pension-holders are opposed to the investment in the M3 companies.

“Many leading UK and Northern Ireland academics and institutions who protested against the M3 route will be appalled to know that they are in fact investors in the M3 tolling scheme.

“It is ironic that while pensions of Irish academics are being cut in order to pay for the M3 motorway being built through Tara’s landscape, the UK academics pensions are being secured by investing in the same motorway’s tolling scheme."

TARAWATCH
Suite 108
The Capel Building
Mary's Abbey
Dublin 7
Republic of Ireland

Universities Superannuation Scheme Limited
2nd Floor Royal Liver Building
Liverpool
L3 1PY
United Kingdom

Andrew Fleming & Clare Murphy-McGreevey
Penrose Financial
2nd Floor
30-34 Moorgate
London EC2R 6DN
United Kingdom

11 March 2009

Re: The Hill of Tara and the M3 Motorway - Unethical Investment by Cintra/Ferrovial in Ireland

Dear USS & Penrose Financial Limited,

I am writing to you on behalf of TaraWatch, an NGO campaigning for the preservation of the Hill of Tara, Ireland's premier national monument, which is threatened by the M3 motorway construction works. We have successfully lobbied for Tara to be placed on the World Monuments Fund, 2008 List of 100 Most Endangered Sites, and we have been invited to resubmit Tara for the 2010 List. This month Smithsonian magazine listed Tara as one of ten must-see endangered sites in the world.

During the course of our campaign, over the last six years, hundreds of international academics, including dozens of British archaeologists, historians and academics, from leading institutions all around Great Britain and Northern Ireland, have publicly condemned the route of the motorway. Some statements are attached below.

It has come to our attention that USS is an investor in the M3 motorway tolling scheme, since you are shareholders in Cintra, a subsidiary of Ferrovial, the M3 construction company. The PPP Contract was awarded in April 2007 to the Eurolink Consortium (SIAC Construction Ltd and Cintra - Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transport S.A.)

This project lies on the Monaghan to Dublin route and will involve the construction of a 50 km stretch of motorway/dual carriageway, and 11 km of single carriageway. The motorway passes within 1000 metres of the top of the Hill of Tara, and dozens of archaeological sites, some of them national monuments, have been demolished already.

The Financial times has a story today entitled, 'Ferrovial faces revolt over Cintra move', which includes the following statements:

"Ferrovial faces a shareholder revolt over plans to buy out minority investors in its separately listed Cintra toll road group. Institutions representing about 13 per cent of the company's free float have clubbed together to oppose the merger, which they say has "extremely limited rationale" for Cintra, with 'all the benefits flowing to Ferrovial'."

"In a letter to Cintra's board, Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) of the UK, together with the State of New Jersey and Australian infrastructure fund managers CP2 and Magellan Asset Management, say the deal would give them "unwanted exposure to operations in new sectors and geographic regions" and that they want to be compensated for the "substantially greater risk profile of Ferrovial shares [compared with] Cintra shares".

"Since its initial public offering, Cintra has represented a logical investment opportunity for specialist toll road investors," they say in the letter. "However, the merger transaction that is currently being evaluated by the respective boards would fundamentally change the nature of our investment."

We have been seeking stakeholder engagement with Ferrovial, in an effort to negotiate an alternative route, but they have not responded to our request. Ferrovial has been confirmed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes. In 2002, Ferrovial became a member of The Global Compact, an initiative involving UN organizations, workers’ associations, non-governmental organizations, and others committed to promoting and respecting nine universal principles in the field of human rights, labour and the environment. We have also signed the UN Global Compact, and are currently making our reports there, in an effort to have the M3 project reviewed.

TaraWatch is also working closely with GES Investment Services, in attempting to initiate stakeholder engagement. GES provides analyses and consultation for institutional clients with an estimated amount of assets of more than €220 billion. In 2007, GES noted that "Grupo Ferrovial and its Polish subsidiary Budimex are two of four new-comers to GES' latest list of companies to engage with or exclude, according to the analysis model GES Global Ethical Standard which is based on international norms for environment, human rights and business ethics." This was due to a motorway in Poland being built through a protected area, which was eventually halted by the European Court of Justice. The European Commission has already condemned the M3 route near Tara, and was reported to be taking legal action.

Currently, there is a public consultation under way, being administered by the Department of the Environment, to review Ireland's list of UNESCO sites. Tara has been nominated, and consultation continues. As you may be aware, UNESCO have ordered the UK Government to move the roads at Stonehenge. At last year's 32nd World Heritage Committee Meeting in Quebec, the Committee asked the UK Government why they had not initiated plans to move the roads, to which they replied it would cost upwards of a billion pounds to do so. UNESCO was not satisfied, and is still threatening sanctions. We are trying to avoid that scenario from being repeated here in Ireland. Therefore it is critical that engagement with Cintra and Ferroival is initiated immediately, and that they participate in the UNESCO public consultation.

We are aware that USS was the first big pension fund in the United Kingdom to adopt a socially responsible investment policy, in 1999, as a result of a sustained two-year Ethics for USS campaign by university staff and the student campaign organisation, People & Planet, led by the late Guy Hughes. Its genesis lay with a handful of USS members outraged that their money was being used to finance activities they found morally unacceptable.

Your web site states: "USS announced its commitment to a socially responsible and sustainable investment (SRSI) approach in 1999 and further elaborated this with a detailed SRSI strategy in 2000. At the time of the initial announcement Professor Sir Graeme Davies, USS Ltd chairman, said: "Today no properly run public company – or fund manager – should be unaware of the importance of public opinion and ethical issues." We use our influence as a large £20 billion fund to encourage socially and environmentally responsible corporate behaviour and good standards of corporate governance, and wherever appropriate, we work with other powerful shareholders to achieve this objective."

"Our strategy is based on active engagement with the companies whose shares we hold. This involves dialogue about acceptable standards of corporate governance, environmental, ethical and social performance. This dialogue is professionally planned and when needed, robust. Engagement also involves work to shape the context in which company-specific discussions take place (for example, see below for our work on climate change). Apart from the moral issues involved, proper assessment of the reputational impact of the company’s performance on these wider fronts is increasingly material to investment considerations. That is why we are working to fully integrate SRSI issues within USS’s investment methodology."

We are contacting People & Planet, in an effort the get this issue addressed. We are also contacting all of the UK academics who objected to the M3, in order to inform them that they may in fact be investors in the project.

However, it is crucial that we establish a constructive dialogue with you, in order to move swiftly to have these critical issues addressed.

Kind regards,

Vincent Salafia
+353-87-132-3365
info@tarawatch.org
http://www.tarawatch.org

CRITICAL! Letter-writing campaign to Save the Hill of Tara

2009-02-28T23:17:00.001+01:00

Smithsonian magazine published an article in the March 2009 issue on the Hill of Tara being endangered by the M3 motorway, and included Tara in a list of 15 Must See Sites, before they disappear:

Endangered Site: The Hill of Tara, Ireland; A new tollway threatens the archaeologically rich complex that is the spiritual heart of the country

Please write a letter to the editor of Smithsonian at LettersEd@si.edu

IRISH NEWSPAPER STORIES

Here are related stories from Irish newspapers. Please write a letter to the editor of the papers.

Irish Times: Tara endangered, says Smithsonian
- Write to lettersed@irishtimes.ie

Irish Independent: Smithsonian puts Hill of Tara on list of endangered must-sees
- Write to independent.letters@unison.independent.ie

Irish News: Seat of kings included in must-see endangered list
- Write to letters@irishnews.com

Irish Examiner: Top US museum names Tara 'must-see' site
- Write to letters@examiner.ie

Herald: Smithsonian joins fight to save the Hill of Tara
- Write to herald.letters@independent.ie

MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT - JOHN GORMLEY

Minister's Statement on Tara and UNESCO
- Write to minister@environ.ie

Minister's Review of Ireland's List of UNESCO sites / Expert Advisory Panel
- Write to worldheritagetentativelist@environ.ie

GREEN PARTY

Green Party of Ireland
info@greenparty.ie

- Trish Forde-Brennan, Chair
fordebren@esatclear.ie

UNESCO

UNESCO - United Nations Educational and Scientific Organisation
wh-info@unesco.org

Francesco Bandarin - Director of the World Heritage Centre
F.Bandarin@unesco.org

Mechtild Rossler - Chief of Section Europe Unit
m.rossler@unesco.org

ICOMOS

ICOMOS - International Council on Monuments and Sites
secretariat@icomos.org

Gustavo ARAOZ - President of ICOMOS
garaoz@usicomos.org

ICOMOS Ireland
info@icomos.ie

Grellan D. Rourke - President of ICOMOS Ireland
grellan.rourke@opw.ie

ICOMOS UK
admin@icomos-uk.org

Lord Donald Hankey - President of ICOMOS UK
hankeyd@ghkint.com

SMITHSONIAN STORIES:

Endangered Site: The Hill of Tara, Ireland - 2009

Ireland Unleashed - 2005

TARAWATCH

TaraWatch.org
info@tarawatch.org
+353-87-132-3365

Smithsonian Magazine: Endangered Site: The Hill of Tara, Ireland

2009-02-27T01:03:00.002+01:00

A new tollway threatens the archaeologically rich complex that is the spiritual heart of the country

Endangered Site: The Hill of Tara, Ireland

Smithsonian magazine, March 2009
By Amanda Bensen

"The harp that once through Tara's halls
The soul of music shed
Now hangs as mute on Tara's walls
As if that soul were fled."

The words of 19th-century Irish poet Thomas Moore still ring true, and the only music you're likely to hear around Tara nowadays is the clang of construction equipment. Several hundred acres of gentle green fields, marked by some lumps and bumps, cover this patch of County Meath in northeast Ireland. A nice place to lie down and watch the clouds scud by, perhaps, but is it any more remarkable than the rest of Ireland's lovely landscape?

Cinnte, to use an Irish expression of certitude. The archaeologically rich complex on and around the Hill of Tara is seen by many as the spiritual and historic heart of Ireland. It was the venue for rituals, battles and burials dating back to 4000 B.C. More than 100 kings were crowned at Tara, and St. Patrick is said to have stopped there to seek royal permission before spreading his message of Christianity.

In more recent history, the hill was the site of Daniel "the Liberator" O'Connell's 1843 "monster meeting," a massive political demonstration that rallied some 750,000 people to the cause of repudiating the country's union with Britain. Thousands of people still gather on its crest on midsummer's eve, both for the panoramic view and what one visitor calls "the sense you get there of being close to something holy."

"Tara is a part of the Irish psyche," says George Eogan, a retired Dublin archaeologist who led excavations near the hill in the 1960s. "Irish people, they know of Tara from their very early days. It's in schoolbooks and stories, even in primary school."

But Irish history now risks being consumed by the Celtic Tiger—the nickname given to Ireland's phenomenal economic expansion for more than a decade. Inevitably, a thriving economy brought demands for an expanded infrastructure. And so, in 2003, the Irish government approved construction of a new four-lane tollway, the M3, to cut through the Tara complex. Construction began in 2005, and despite a storm of public protest, the project appears unstoppable.

"When it was proposed in 2000, most people nationally had no idea what was happening. And I think everyone trusted the government not to pick a route that was so damaging," says Vincent Salafia, a lawyer from nearby County Wicklow who founded the anti-M3 group TaraWatch in 2005. "There's fat land all around. We still can't quite figure out why they insisted on going so close to Tara."

Proponents of the M3 argue that the highway will improve life for tens of thousands of commuters who live northwest of Dublin and often spend hours each day creeping along traffic-clogged, two-lane roads into the capital city, about 30 miles away from Tara. Other proposed routes for that section of the M3 would have disturbed a greater number of private homes and farms. Proponents also note that the new road will be almost a mile away from the actual Hill of Tara, a 510-foot-high knoll.

"If it doesn't go through the hill, then it's not damaging the site? That is the greatest bit of nonsense that I've ever heard," counters Eogan. "The Hill of Tara is only the core area of a much larger archaeological and cultural landscape."

Preservationists particularly worry that the M3 will slice between the Hill of Tara and Rath Lugh, an ancient earthen fort about two miles northeast thought to have been used to defend the hill. A smaller road already divides the two sites, but the M3 will run much closer to Rath Lugh, even removing part of the promontory it sits on. "If this development goes ahead, Rath Lugh will merely overlook, from a distance of 100 meters, a motorway—which would be a rather ignominious end for a once proud and important monument," a trio of archaeologists warned in a 2004 publication.

Much of the recent controversy has focused on the 38 new archaeological sites that construction teams have unearthed along the section of motorway closest to Tara since the project began. The discoveries represent centuries of human activity, including prehistoric settlements, Bronze Age burial mounds, a possible medieval charcoal manufacturing kiln and the remains of a 19th-century post office. At the time, the discoveries barely caused a hiccup—the artifacts were removed, and once the sites had been "preserved by record" in notes and photographs, they were destroyed. Ireland's National Roads Authority has pledged that any artifacts will eventually be deposited in the National Museum of Ireland.

While that approach may be legally permissible, that doesn't make it right, says Salafia, who examined one of the exposed trenches at a site just north of Tara. "You could see a child's body where [construction teams] had actually cut off the nose and toes, and also shaved off the top of a cremation urn, leaving the ashes exposed," he says. Eogan calls it "an act of sheer vandalism."

The M3 is scheduled for completion in 2010, though the global recession may delay it. In the meantime, Tara is attracting increased international attention, and is under consideration to become a Unesco World Heritage Site.

"Most of the endangered sites around the world are suffering due to neglect and climate change," Salafia says. "But this is an act of assault—premeditated assault, if you will—by the very people who are given the job of taking care of it."

Please comment and write letters to the editor

The editors of Smithsonian have been in touch to say that they have been getting a good response from readers, who want to know how they can help. Please leave comments on the feature on the Smithsonian Magazine web site

It is also possible to write letters to the magazine, for publication in next month's issue. Email email to LettersEd@si.edu or by regular mail to the address below. Please include your telephone number and address. Letters may be edited for clarity and fit.

Smithsonian magazine
Letter to the Editor
MRC 513, P.O. Box 37012
Washington, D.C. 20013

Minister Gormley heckled about Tara during Newgrange Winter Solstice ceremony

2008-12-22T04:57:00.001+01:00

Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, second from left (The Irish Times)

Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and leader of the Green Party in Ireland, John Gormley, made a visit to Newgrange for the Winter Solstice, as if seeking some ancient wisdom to guide his troubled people though the dark of winter, to a place of light and hope. Well, he found some, but it may not have been what he wanted to hear. This is the man whose party campaigned vigorously for the protection of the Hill of Tara, and then said he had he had no power to change the M3 motorway, when he got elected and appointed Minister, by Bertie Ahern. The following is an excerpt from The Irish Times -Not all gloom for the winter solstice - 22 December 2008

Neither cloudy skies nor protests at Green failures could dim the conviviality of Newgrange watchers

Cameras were poised hopefully as the minutes passed. Still no sun rose over the familiar ridge facing the monument. It seemed so unlikely that no one was even willing it to happen. But the crowd was happy, not tense with expectation.

A female protester challenged Minister for the Environment John Gormley as he entered the passageway, reminding him of his failure to save the Tara landscape. Her comments encouraged other remarks; conversations strayed briefly from Newgrange and the technical achievements of our ancestors to the disappointing performance of the Greens in Government.

The robust man with the Nordic skier's hat summed it up: "They were full of big righteous talk when they were the opposition but once they got a bit of power, hah, they turned into mice." Strong support for mice as a species resulted in him quickly amending his comments: "I meant rats." "Hear, hear!," endorsed a formidable looking matron with a walking stick, "they've sold out. It's disgusting." Colourful images of self-righteous "eco rats" bearing low-energy light bulbs inspired further exchanges.

Write to lettersed@irish-times.ie

More information: www.tarawatch.org - email info@tarawatch.org

Call for Submissions to be Made to UNESCO Consultation on Ireland’s Tentative List of World Heritage Sites

2008-12-09T14:58:00.001+01:00

TaraWatch is calling on the public, around the world, to make submissions to an advisory group that has been set up by the Irish Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, to review the current list of potential UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Ireland, known as the Tentative List (of potential nominees as World Heritage Sites). The Irish Government is currently building the M3 motorway through the heart of the archaeological complex associated with the Hill of Tara, in County Meath, at the same time that it is proposing to nominate Tara to Ireland's Tentative List. We are asking members of the public to s ign our petition and to make submissions, before Friday, January 30th, 2009. Email your submission to worldheritagetentativelist@environ.ie

Our position is that:

- The Hill of Tara complex qualifies for World Heritage status as a natural and cultural landscape of outstanding universal value, due to its unique cultural significance, and the extent of the surviving remains. Tara covers a much larger area than that the 100 acres of State-owned land on the summit of the Hill, which currently delimits the 'national monument'. The M3 passes through the middle of the area to be protected.

- The entire Tara archaeological complex and cultural/natural landscape should be declared a World Heritage site. Expert bodies such as the World Monuments Fund, the Heritage Council, have recognised Tara consists of the entire Hill of Tara along with the Tara / Skryne valley, as well as the defensive forts that encircle the hill, including national monuments such as the defensive forts of Rath Lugh (to the east), Rath Miles (to the north) and Ringlestown Rath (to the west), and have called for the re-routing of the M3.

-The M3 motorway, due to open in 2010, should be re-routed outside of the Tara complex, before the site is given UNESCO World Heritage Protection. It would be a breach of the World Heritage Convention for UNESCO to inscribe the site, with the M3 passing through it. This is confirmed by the fact that Tara was placed on the World Monuments Fund, 2008-2010 List of 100 Most Endangered Sites

World Heritage Sites list to be reviewed

The Irish Times - Monday December 1 2008

AN EXPERT advisory group has been set up by Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government John Gormley to review the current list of potential World Heritage Sites in Ireland, known as the Tentative List (of potential nominees as World Heritage Sites). They are to submit a new Tentative List to him by spring of next year. The existing Tentative List of proposed sites dates back to 1992.

At present Ireland has two World Heritage Sites inscribed on the prestigious World Heritage List. Brú Na Bóinne in Co Meath was inscribed in 1993 and Skellig Michael, Co Kerry in 1996. Ireland ratified the World Heritage Convention in 1991 and undertook the responsibility of protecting and conserving both national and international world heritage sites, and of maintaining a Tentative List of potential sites for World Heritage Site nomination. It also undertook to nominate national heritage sites on this list to the World Heritage Committee for World Heritage listing.

As part of the public consultation process prior to preparing the Tentative List, interested parties and individuals are invited to request a copy of the current Tentative List and World Heritage Status. It is available from the department as guidance to people in making submissions on proposed sites for inclusion on Ireland's Tentative List of potential nominees as World Heritage Sites. These must have unique outstanding universal value and not just be of value in an Irish context.

Details www.environ.ie submissions by Friday January 30th.

Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government - Press Release

'Ireland's World Heritage - Review of Tentative List'

1 December 2008

Mr. John Gormley, T.D., Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has today (1 December 2008) initiated a review of Ireland’s Tentative List of potential sites for World Heritage Site nomination. He has established an Expert Advisory Group to carry out a review of the current Tentative List and to draw up a new draft list for submission to him in Spring 2009. The existing Tentative List dates back to 1992.

Ireland ratified the World Heritage Convention in 1991 and undertook the responsibility of protecting and conserving both national and international world heritage, of maintaining a Tentative List of potential sites for World Heritage Site nomination and nominating national heritage sites cultural, natural and mixed from this list to the World Heritage Committee for World Heritage Listing.

At the present time Ireland has two World Heritage Sites inscribed on the prestigious World Heritage List. Brú Na Bóinne in County Meath was inscribed in 1993 and Skellig Michael, County Kerry in 1996.

As part of the Tentative List public consultation process, interested parties and individuals are invited to request a copy of Tentative List and World Heritage Status - a guidance document which is available from the Department to enable them to make submissions on sites to be included on Ireland’s Tentative List of potential nominees as World Heritage Sites. The guidance document includes details on UNESCO World Heritage criteria, a definition of what constitutes Outstanding Universal Value in a World Heritage context, an explanation of authenticity, integrity and significance on a global basis. The guidance document and formal proposal forms are available from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (details supplied below) and are also downloadable from the World Heritage Section of the Department’s website on www.environ.ie.

Those making submissions are requested to take note, in particular, of the following:

in order for a site to be successfully inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List it must have unique Outstanding Universal Value and not just be of value in an Irish context; and

sites nominated for inclusion on the Tentative List should ideally be on the Record of Monuments and Places or on a local authority Record of Protected Structures or within a Special Area of Conservation or Special Protection Area etc.

Interested parties and individuals are invited to make written submissions, no later than Friday 30 January 2009. The Department is subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information legislation and submissions received may have to be released into the public domain, should they later become the subject of a Freedom of Information Request. Submissions should only be made on the formal application form and may be returned by post or email to:

Heritage Policy and Architectural Protection Section,
Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government,
1, Ardcavan Business Park,
Ardcavan,
County Wexford.

Telephone :01-8883061
E-mail: worldheritagetentativelist@environ.ie

Additional information on the membership of the Expert Advisory Group, it’s terms of reference, the Tentative List Review Process, Ireland’s current Tentative List, UNESCO’s World Heritage Operational Guidelines and Criteria and Management Plans for the two current world heritage sites may be accessed in the World Heritage Section of the Department’s website
www.environ.ie. More detailed information on UNESCO World Heritage may be accessed on www.unesco.org.

For further details visit the website: http://www.environ.ie/en/Heritage/WorldHeritage/

Pre-Budgetary Submission to Dept of Finance - M3 motorway will lose money

2008-10-11T15:38:00.000+01:00

Download TaraWatch Pre-Budgetary Submission

Dowload TaraWatch financial analysis of M3 motorway

M3 motorway will lose money, says TaraWatch

Irish examiner - Breaking News - 10 October 2008

The proposed M3 motorway will lose money, according to a financial analysis included today in TaraWatch's pre-Budgetary submission. The primary conclusion is there is a need for Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the National Development Plan (NDP), before any spending decisions are made on Transport 21. These conclusions are supported by the EPA Report on the Irish Environment, released on Wed October 8, which calls for SEA analysis of the NDP. The submission also details legal cases being taken against the Irish Government, by the European Commission and in the Supreme Court, regarding alleged breaches of SEA law.

The M3 Motorway PPP contractor, Ferrovial, is also examined in detail. A financial analysis of the M3 motorway, performed by a licensed engineer, Rodney Aldrich, claimed that the M3 motorway will be a losing proposition for taxpayers in collecting toll revenues, based on the NRA traffic projections, in order to cover construction and operating costs. Aldrich concluded that: "The tolls will fall short by a total of 1.165bn euro in repaying a 45-year financing." Mr Aldrich concluded: "If a rail link supplements improvements to the current N3, the possibility exists to avoid 180,000,000 euro in excess carbon emissions penalties that might very well result if the M3 is completed. "The Department of Finance should perform a fresh cost-benefit analysis, and investigate all real and shadow costs associated with the M3 before funding it any further.

Vincent Salafia of TaraWatch said: "The National Development Plan, and the M3 motorway, are losing propositions for the Irish taxpayer. "Even a cursory analysis of the PPP numbers shows that the M3, and the NDP, are examples of 'cowboy economics', and the figures simply don't add up." "The recent EPA Report on the State of the Irish Environment 2008 supports our findings, by calling for cost-benefit analysis and Strategic Environmental Assessment of the NDP."

Related stories

Irish independent - Principals in plea to spare schools from 'disastrous' cuts (6 Oct)

BreakingNews.ie - M3 motorway will lose money, says TaraWatch

Ireland Online - M3 motorway will lost money, says TaraWatch

TORONTO STAR: Celtic Tiger threatens 'very soul of historic Ireland'

2008-10-07T16:49:00.001+01:00

Archaeology Magazine - News Headlines: Here’s a summary of what preservationists have tried to do to save Ireland’s Hill of Tara from highway construction. Their new argument suggests that the downturn in the country’s economy requires Ireland to save its historic resources as tourist destinations.

Celtic Tiger threatens 'very soul of historic Ireland'

MITCH POTTER - TORONTO STAR
Europe Bureau - Oct 07, 2008

HILL OF TARA, Ireland–It is a battle worthy of the old Irish legends, pitting history against modernity. But as a controversial highway creeps ever closer to the spiritual home of the early Celtic kings, it now appears both sides may lose.

For advocates of the twin ribbons of asphalt called the M3 now under construction north of the Irish capital, there is no choice but to live pragmatically with the roar of a commuter corridor in the shadow of the sacred Hill of Tara, because getting to nearby Dublin is a nightmare without it.

For opponents, the new toll highway is the most painful example of the Celtic Tiger's propensity for gnawing through all obstacles – up to and including "the very soul of historic Ireland" – in the pursuit of the almighty euro. Worse, they say, the highway is arriving just as the economy curls up into what many expect will be a deep slumber, worn ragged by a broken property bubble and the global credit squeeze.

Scheduled to open in 2010, the M3's loudest critics concede much of the damage is already done – 38 archaeological sites unearthed during construction thus far have been carved from the landscape. Among the now vanished finds, a newly discovered national monument at Lismullin that one leading archaeologist described as "the wooden equivalent of Stonehenge."

"All these sites, including the monument at Lismullin, were part and parcel of the greater whole that is the Hill of Tara complex and now they are gone, demolished. The damage is complete and irreversible," said Vincent Salafia of Tara Watch. "Some would say, `Give up the fight. The deed is done.' But we're not giving up because what we are most against is the building of the motorway through the valley that is at the heart of the Tara complex. It's a long ways from completion and there is still time to come to our senses.

"We say reroute it. Turn the M3 into a heritage trail and it will make much more money than a toll road, which is now looking at ruin as a concept with the economy today, because nobody is going to use it."

A walk to the summit of Tara itself, with the guidance of local historian and author Michael Slavin, reveals the multiplicity of historical layers at the heart of the quarrel, from a Neolithic passage tomb predating the Celts to Iron Age earthworks within which as many as eight centuries of Irish High Kings are believed to have been crowned.

Slavin points to a standing stone, thought to be the fabled Lia Fail, or Stone of Destiny, which legend holds would scream loud enough to be heard throughout the island when a would-be king met a series of challenges and was deemed worthy of royal rule. Another layer still commemorates the 1798 Battle of Tara, when some 400 rebels died fighting against British forces, encoding the hill even more deeply as a symbol of Irish independence.

Other earthworks reveal 20th-century excavations conducted on the mistaken belief that the Irish were part of the Lost Tribes of Israel and that the hill contained the Ark of the Covenant.

"In the time of the pyramids, a spiritual people were on this hill. And for centuries to come, Tara was a place to project power through ceremony, right through to the time of the later Irish kings. That's why it matters," said Slavin.

Slavin admits he has "a bit of a jaundiced view" toward the great wealth that flowed through Ireland for the past generation. It brought a building boom to the nearby town of Navan, which swelled from county town to a northern outpost of Greater Dublin.

"Money was something we never had. But now we have thousands of people in Navan living in these new houses that have to get to Dublin every day. Can you say to them, `Sorry, you can't have a road?'"

The answer, according to the overwhelming majority of Irish archaeologists, is yes. Foremost among them is George Eogan, professor emeritus of archaeology at University College, Dublin, who has invested a lifetime of excavation throughout County Meath, becoming famous for the discovery and understanding of the rich belt of Neolithic passage tombs that ring the Boyne River valley, from Tara to nearby Newgrange and Knowth.

"This highway is shocking. It is one of the great scandals," Eogan told the Toronto Star. "People need motorways. Fine. But the evil thing they've done is to build this motorway into crucial areas alongside Tara. They could have found a way around it. But instead we are left with a depressing, cannibalistic and ruthless plan that runs directly through virgin territory."

With the Irish economy falling into recession last month, the Tara Watch campaign is now shifting tactics, arguing "the radically new economic landscape" calls for the scrapping of the government's six-year National Development Plan, under which the M3 is being built. The downturn, the group says, requires that Ireland rethink the assumptions of what kind of economy it will have moving forward.

"We're in a struggle to define ourselves," said Salafia. "With the Celtic Tiger roaring along we were able to ignore the commercial and cultural advantages of properly protecting this history. People thought, `Craft shops and Leprechauns? No thanks, we're better than that now.'

"It's ironic that we've always relied on tourism, yet there is so much there that has never been properly marketed. And there is a stupid assumption that we have so much we don't really need to protect. But the way the economy is turning now, we're asking for a chance to revisit these assumptions."

Downriver at Newgrange, the fuss surrounding Tara comes as no surprise to Claire Tuffy, who manages what is widely regarded as Europe's most impressive Stone Age monument. Dating to 3,200 BC, the estimated 200,000 tonnes of stone were arranged in such a way that daylight penetrates into the 20-metre passageway for about 17 minutes each year – precisely on Dec. 21, marking the winter solstice.

Tuffy says visitors are continually looking to attach ever-greater meaning to the site. One theorist claimed a drawing in the chamber constitutes the first map of the moon. Another declared the stones at Newgrange were acoustically tuned to a specific musical note.

"It is just so much to ask of our ancestors. You get the stones, you pile them up, you line them up with the sun and the stars and moon and then, oh yes, they need to make a certain note," Tuffy laughed.

"What it says that humans are always looking for answers. And in the backs of our heads we have a notion that at some time in the past there was a golden age where people knew exactly what they were doing and they weren't struggling to find their way."

Tuffy doubts it was so. She points out that after the completion of Newgrange, the builders immediately began work on secondary monuments at the site.

"God love these poor people who were dragging these stones up the hill, they were searching for answers as well ... And obviously they didn't get all the answers, because the guys in charge said, 'Now we've got to start building another one on Monday,' " she said.

"That same spiritual fascination is what keeps Tara and the rest of these monuments special. They are real, living spiritual places where people connect to the past. And if we lost that, we'd all be a lot poorer."

More:

Watch interview with Professor George Eogan

EU Speak out on Tara

2008-10-01T10:25:00.001+01:00

EU Speak out on Tara

South Meath Post 30-9-08
by Evan Short

Tarawatch anti M3 protesters claimed last week to have been backed by the EU in their continuing campaign against the motorway.

According to Vincent Salafia, the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament has expressed its "ongoing concern" regarding the impact of the M3 on the Hill of Tara archaeological complex and the demolition of the Lismullin National Monument.

In its annual activity report from 2007 released last Wednesday, the Committee commented specifically on the absence of any assesment in advance of a 2007 decision to remove a national monument situated at Lismullin in the path of the M3 Motorway project near Tara in County Meath.

The Lismullin Henge, described by the American Archaeological Journal as one of its most signiicant finds of 2007, was removed in January to permit the M3 to go ahead. According to Vincent Salafia, the comments were a welcome boost for Campaigners.

" We welcome the ongoing concern of the Petitions Committee in this matter and urge the EU Commissioner for the Environment Stavros Dimas to speed up his legal action against Ireland over Tara.The M3 isstill 3 years from completion as it has been delayed due to multiple sub contractors withdrawing from the project, and there is still plenty of time to resolve this issue"

Irish Independent: M3 motorway partners see 12pc drop in share price

2008-09-02T12:33:00.001+01:00

Nicolas Villen Jimenez, chief financial officer of Grupo Ferrovial SA, poses at his office in Madrid on May 28, 2007. Photographer: Daniel Sanchez/Bloomberg News

M3 motorway partners see 12pc drop in share price

Irish Independent - Tuesday September 02 2008

THE Spanish construction giant Ferrovial Group , a partner in the construction of the controversial M3 motorway, saw its shares fall 12pc yesterday , after it reported a 25pc drop in earnings for the first half of 2008. While the group's cash flow remained healthy at more than €1bn over the period, it said earnings before interest and tax fell 25pc to €691m.

Ferrovial reported that Ireland was among the best performing areas for the group internationally. While traffic volumes on its toll roads grew by 8pc, revenues from this source were up a significant 13.5pc over the period, although the company declines to give an exact figure for those revenues. Despite the economic slowdown affecting some countries, the toll road business, including holding companies, expanded revenue by 7.3pc to €444.6m in the first half of 2008. "The results were affected by exchange rates and an up-tick in costs, together with a slowdown in traffic on some routes," said Luis Padron, an analyst at Fortis Bank . "Still, that was compensated by higher tolls and there were no great surprises overall."

Ferrovial ended the period heavily in debt -- net financial debt with recourse to the parent company was €2.201bn at the end of the half year. Tara Watch, the group which has opposed the building of the M3 close to the national monument at Tara, said the debt burdens under which construction firms such as Ferrovial are operating, as well as declining toll revenues worldwide, posed a serious problem for the Government.

Downturn

Vincent Salafia of Tara Watch said: "The global financial downturn has hit construction companies hard , and the increase in gasoline prices has also reduced toll revenues worldwide. These two factors are combining to create an ominous environment for the M3 contract, the National Roads Programme under the National Development Plan , and Transport 21 . We are calling on the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, to investigate the matter, and to reveal the consequences of contractor liquidation, under the Public Private Partnership agreement."

Related articles:

- Bloomberg: Ferrovial Declines After Posting Quarterly Loss on Heathrow

- Wall Street Journal: Debt Costs Help Slash Net at Spain's Ferrovial

- Financial Times: Ferrovial profits dive as strong euro and rising costs add to woes

- Peninsula Star On-line: Ferrovial announces profit collapse

Email Ferrovial Shareholder Relations: accionistas@ferrovial.es

Downgrade for builders as concern over debts grows

Irish Independent - Wednesday July 23 2008

Hochtief , Germany's largest construction company, and other European builders were downgraded by Merrill Lynch on concern debt-financed acquisitions will add extra strain to their finances as economies deteriorate.

Merrill cut its recommendation on Hochtief, Bilfinger Berger and Ferrovial of Spain to "neutral" from "buy", according to analyst Luis Prieto. Merrill lowered Eiffage and Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas to "underperform'' from "neutral" and kept "buy" ratings on ACS and Vinci.

"The fact that contractors have not been stress-tested by previous economic downturns in their current configuration makes us adopt a very conservative approach," Mr Prieto said in a note.

"Negative sentiment" surrounds European builders' shares," added Mr Prieto. Attempts to diversify have exposed European contractors to additional risk. (© Bloomberg )

Motorists can be a driving force

Letter to the Editor - Irish Independent - Tuesday September 02 2008

I CANNOT for the life of me understand why Irish motorists take so much crap from the National Roads Authority and the Government. Here we are again with another stealth tax that the already hard-done by Irish motorists have to pay. What is wrong with you motorists? Do you not realise that you have an ace in your hands that, if used properly, could see the M50 tolls removed permanently?

A few years ago I was in Alicante, Spain. A new motorway had just been opened up and toll booths had been placed on the motorway. The Spanish motorists did not use the motorway; they did not want to pay the tolls and the government for the region had to remove the tolls and the motorway is now free to use. Can the Irish motorists not do the same? We know that Irish motorists using the M50 have paid for it many times over and now are being ripped off again with an increase in the toll charges.

Irish motorists, lend me your ears. Awaken in yourselves the passion and drive of our forefathers and unite as one to boycott the M50 motorway. Bring this rip-off to a close once and for all. I feel very strongly about this.

TONY LEGGETT
CO LIMERICK

write to independent.letters@unison.independent.ie

Tara campaign to give away money outside Government offices

2008-08-25T14:23:00.002+01:00

Plush new Department of Finance offices - Merrion Row, Dublin

Breaking News - Ireland: 25/08/2008 - 12:22:46

Tara campaigners are to give money away to members of the public at noon tomorrow, outside the new Department of Finance offices on Baggot Street.

The gesture is being done to protest the Government's adherence to the National Development Plan, and the M3 motorway, despite the economic downturn.

Dressed as 'fat-cats', demonstrators will give passing members of the building trade €1 each. However, employees in the medical or educational fields will be given only 20 cents. Homeless people will not be given anything.

This is to symbolise what campaigners claim is an imbalance in Government priorities, where support for builders is higher than any other area of Irish society.

The action is being taken in response to Bertie Ahern's opinion piece in yesterday's Sunday Independent, calling for Taoiseach Cowen to ignore the financial crisis and proceed with the multi-billion investment in the NDP, and in particular the roads programme and Transport 21.

The takings from the TaraWatch benefit concert tonight at the Arts Club in Upper Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin will fund the giveaway.

Campaign spokesman Vincent Salafia said: "The economic justification for the NDP and the M3 has evaporated, with the economic downturn, and it is economic suicide to carry on as if nothing has happened.

"Fianna Fáil, mindlessly propped up by the Green Party and the Progressive Democrats, have clearly made a lot promises to their supporters in the building trade that they feel cannot be undone, no matter what logic it defies or what damage it does to the economy as a whole.

"We are demanding truly sustainable development, not the corrupted version we are being fed at the moment, that is harming rather than improving society as a whole."

COPY OF TARAWATCH RELEASE AND DETAILS OF EVENTS BELOW

PRESS RELEASE

TARAWATCH.org

25 August 2008

'Proceeds from Tonight's Tara Benefit to be Given Away Outside Department of
Finance Tomorrow'

The takings from the TaraWatch benefit concert taking place tonight at the
United Arts Club will be given away to the public at noon tomorrow, outside the
plush new Department of Finance offices on Baggot Street, as a form of protest.

The gesture is being done to protest the Government's stubborn adherence to the
National Development Plan, and the M3 motorway, despite the drastic economic
downturn.

Dressed as 'fat-cats', demonstrators will give passing members of the building
trade one euro each. However, employees in the medical or educational fields
will be given only 20 cents. Homeless people will not be given anything. This
will symbolise the imbalance Government priorities, where support for builders
continues to be radically higher than any other area of Irish society.

The action is being taken in response to Bertie Ahern's opinion piece in
yesterday's Sunday Independent, calling for Taoiseach Cowen to ignore the
financial crisis and proceed with the multi-billion investment in the NDP, and
in particular the roads programme and Transport 21.

It is predicted that Taoiseach Cowen and his Cabinet will slash cuts in
education and medical services, bring back university fees and raise taxes,
rather than cancel any of the contracts they have agreed with their supporters
in the building trade, when he gives his speech at the Ballybrit think-in on
September 15. Demonstrations will be held there too.

The benefit tonight at the Arts Club, 3 Upper Fitzwilliam St, will begin with a
reception at 6:00 pm, followed by a debate at 7:00 pm and music and poetry
beginning at 9:00 pm. The debate will be on whether the Hill of Tara should be
declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, despite the M3 passing through it. Music
will be by celtic/jazz singer and RTE broadcaster Melanie O'Reilly, accompanied
by Sean O Nuallain â€“ Guitar; Colm O Sullivan-flute; Miles Drennan â€“ Piano.
Poetry will be by Trinity College Professor, Iggy McGovern. Suggested donation
is 10 euros.

Vincent Salafia said:

"The economic justification for the NDP and the M3 has evaporated, with the
economic downturn, and it is economic suicide to carry on as if nothing has
happened.

"Fianna Fail, mindlessly propped up by the Green Party and the Progressive
Democrats, have clearly made a lot promises to their supporters in the building
trade that they feel cannot be undone, no matter what logic it defies or what
damage it does to the economy as a whole.

"We are demanding truly sustainable development, not the corrupted version we
are being fed at the moment, that is harming rather than improving society as a
whole.

ENDS

Irish mail on Sunday: Truth on Tara was buried deep due to culture of lies

2008-06-30T00:54:00.002+01:00

My findings on Tara were altered, says archaeologist

Irish Mail on Sunday - 29 June 2008 - By Luke Byrne

A LEADING archaeologist employed to survey the M3 Tara Valley route has claimed her findings were changed to support the motorway when in fact there was evidence against it. In a devastating attack, Jo Ronayne - who was working for the National Roads Authority - says her findings were altered before being presented to ministers. Miss Ronayne, who was an excavation director at the Tara valley site in Co. Meath, claims she was told to 'change interpretations' so as to 'lessen to potential of numbers of sites'. And she says she was excluded from NRA meetings in which her evidence was altered before reports were passed on to the Government. The damning allegations will shatter the Governments defence that it would not change the Tara route because there is no significant archaeological site on it. And it will lead to disturbing questions about whether ministers - and in turn the public or even the courts - were misled about the archaeological finds.

Miss Ronayne, who was directly employed by NRA subcontractor Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd, suggests in an explosive academic article that her role appeared to have been a sham. 'I didn't realise that the testing and my reports would be used to facilitate rather than stop the project going ahead. Or that they don't let you write the truth in the reports or give you enough time to do a proper job,' she wrote. The archaeologist - whose sister Maggie, an archaeology lecturer in NUI Galway, is due to attend today's World Archaeological Congress in Dublin - remains utterly disenchanted with how she says her reports were used and portrayed. She said: 'I held the licence and was responsible for the work, but the NRA archaeologist would come down and tell me what I should be doing. 'Directors or field archaeologists working on the sites were not allowed to attend meetings where decisions were made by the NRA's own archaeologists about how to interpret and present what we were finding.' She added: 'A number of times I was told to change an interpretation which served to lessen the potential numbers of sites. We were also told to excavate large sections even tough you are not supposed to excavate in the testing phase. 'They edited our reports before the Minister saw them.'

In May 2005, following preliminary archaeological reports made by the NRA, the then-environment minister Dick Roche sanctioned 38 archaeological excavations in the Tara-Skryne valley in Co. Meath, effectively approving the route. It was reports such as those complied by Miss Ronayne that Mr Roche would have been presented with before he eventually gave his approval for the project. Following the decision to go ahead with the road, Miss Ronayne and a number of archaeologists refused to work on the excavations. Since the route of the M3 was approved, there have been a number of protests aimed at highlighting the archaeological value of the stretch of motorway.

However, the results of initial test-trenching were often highlighted by advocates of the route of the motorway. In March 2005, Frank Cosgrave of the Meath Citizens for the M3 group, told the Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government: 'Nothing that could be described as a "national monument" has been found. At the same meeting, Cork TD Billy Kelliher said: 'The argument put forward by the archaeologists with regard to the richness of the area is a bit of a myth.' Labour Environment spokeswoman Joanna Tuffy said: "If this is true, I think we need to bring in a completely independent archaeological survey to make sure that anything that can be salvaged will be. 'At this stage we've already gone too far so we can't turn back.' Miss Tuffy added: 'This incident is something that I will raise in the Dail.

Truth on Tara was buried deep due to culture of lies
Irish Mail on Sunday - EDITORIAL
29 June 2008

BUILDING a much-needed road ought to be reasonably straightforward. Yet, years after Meath commuters were promised the M3 motorway, the project has been hit by another completely avoidable scandal. The revelation of official interference in the archaeological studies at Tara mean more misery for those stuck in tailbacks, but it is the culture of official deception that poses the gravest questions.

A lot of people have been badly misled. Archaeologists hired for their professional expertise and integrity have not in the words of one, been allowed to 'write the truth'. Altering independent advice to fit hidden agendas is a dangerous corruption of working of Government in itself, more typical of systematically dishonest regimes than a democratic country like ours. Dail and public debates were based on information that cannot now be trusted. The courts have been asked to make judgments premised, in part, on studies that contain the taint of offical tampering. And a difficult decision whether to put the real needs of the travelling public nover the genuine loss of a part of our patrimony has been subverted by bureaucrats trusted to give us accurate information.

Those responsible cannot be allowed to hide behind the monolithic facade of the public sector. This is a dishonest decision with serious consequences. The individuals responsible - who must be known to those who can blow the whistle on their misdeeds - must be held to account. But the culture of dishonesty that makes such flagrant interference possible is harder to root out without clear direction from the very top. This is a Government that routinely plays fast and loose with the accuracy of the information it serves up. Bitter experience has taught the public not to take on trust the official information it receives. Yet the truth will always out. Public confidence in politics is as low as it is because political standards are so low. This sort of deliberate dishonesty needs to be stamped out, with the Taoiseach and the Cabinet setting standards at the top.

PRESS RELEASE

TARAWATCH.org

29 June 2008

'Outrage Over NRA Archaeologist Expose On Tara/M3 High Court Case Evidence'

Tarawatch member, Vincent Salafia, is seeking legal advice in response to the article that appeared in today's Irish Mail on Sunday, which contains allegations that the National Roads Authority (NRA) misled the courts, by falsifying reports, which were used in a 2006 High Court case over the M3.

The article quotes an academic paper by NUI Galway archaeologist, Maggie Ronayne, which is to be presented to the Sixth World Archaeological Congress, which is beginning in Dublin today. The
Congress will be debating the ethics of the Hill of Tara/M3 issue.

Maggie quotes an interview with Jo Ronayne, who worked for an archaeological consultancy company, contracted to examine some of the 38 sites. Jo claims: "A number of times I was told to change an
interpretation which served to lessen the potential or numbers of sites." Not only were archaeologists forced to make false statements, she claims, the NRA "edited our reports before the minister saw them."

Salafia sued the Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, as well as Meath County Council, and claimed that many of the 38 sites discovered along the M3 between Navan and Dunshaughlin, were national monuments, which they failed to report, and that the Minister should not have granted licenses to excavate them.

Justice Tom Smyth (now retired) ruled against Mr Salafia, in 2005, because the judge agreed with the NRA archaeologists that none of the 38 sites were in fact national monuments, and also that the greater
Tara complex does not constitute a single national monument. In his judgement, Justice Smyth stated:

"The Applicant alleges that the County Council failed to report the discovery to the Minister. (I reject this as an unfounded allegation as there was no national monument and there was no failure having carried out the exploratory test-trenching on the 38 sites...)"

Salafia lost the cause, and was liable for 600,000 euros in damages, which effectively prevented him from taking a Supreme Court appeal. The loss also resulted in the 38 sites being excavated and demolished,
and M3 construction works proceeding. He agreed to withdraw his Supreme Court appeal, in exchange for the Government not pursuing him for costs.

The loss also had a significant effect on Mr Salafia personally, who was left liable for his own costs, which were also in the hundreds of thousands of Euros.

The case also had an adverse effect on his experts, such as Conor Newman, the new Chairman of the Heritage Council, who had argued that certain sites were national monuments. His professional opinion was
scuppered by the Judge.

TaraWatch were contacted by the World Archaeological Congress Standing Committee on Ethics on 5 June and identified as stakeholders in a round table discussion on the M3 and the Hill of Tara, to be held at UCD, next week. TaraWatch was invited to submit a position paper on the matter. That paper is now being amended, in response to the revelations.

TaraWatch is also travelling to Quebec City for the 32nd Meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, 2-10 July, to lobby on behalf of Tara. We will lobby UNESCO to oppose the proposal of the Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, to make Tara a World Heritage Site, with the M3 bissecting it, and insist that the M3 motorway is re-routed first.

Mr Salafia of TaraWatch said today, in response to the article:

"I am astonished by these revelations of evidence fabrication. They confirm what we have suspected all along, but have never been able to prove. It appears that the NRA lied about everything, misled the Courts, and are intentionally wrecking Tara.

"I was accused of wasting the tax-payers money, when it now appears NRA were wrongfully using tax-payers money, not just to destroy our environment, but to destroy peoples lives.

"Legal advice is immediately being sought, and we are calling for a full Dail investigation into the affair. There may also be a possibility of vacating the judgement, and suing for damages.

"Work should cease immediately on M3, and the entire matter must be re-evaluated. While many of the national monuments are gone, the M3 is still two years from completion, and should not be completed
through the middle of the Tara landscape.

"We call on John Gormley, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, to stand up and exercise his constitutional duty to protect our national heritage, and to put an end to this scandal
for once and for all."

"These revelations are bound to have a major impact on UNESCO. We are very optimistic that the UN will now find against the Irish Government in this case, and that the European Commission will now seek an injunction, in ongoing case against Ireland over the M3.

ENDS

Contact - Laura Grealish 087-972-8603 / Vincent Salafia 087-132-3365 or email info@tarawatch.org

EXCERPT FROM MAGGIE RONAYNE PAPER, QUOTING JO RONAYNE:

"Jo Ronayne directed M3 test trenches for IAC Ltd (Irish Archaeological Consultancy, one of the archaeology companies contracted to work on the M3). She says:

I should have said no when asked to direct on it but I didn't have the experience to realize that the testing and my reports would be used to facilitate rather than stop the project going ahead. Or that they don't let you write the truth in the reports or give you enough time to do a proper job. I suppose I thought I and others could make a difference by showing the wealth of what was there, that it might stop the motorway. After a while I realized that the NRA would not let this happen. I was the director, I held the license and was responsible for the work, but the NRA archaeologist would come down and tell me what I should be doing. And directors or field archaeologists working on the sites were not allowed to attend meetings where decisions were made by the National Roads Authority's own archaeologists about how to interpret and present what WE were finding.

A number of times I was told to change an interpretation which served to lessen the potential or numbers of sites. We were also told to excavate large sections into one type of site [fulachta fiadh or Bronze Age mounds] even though you are not supposed to excavate in the testing phase. They edited our reports before the minister saw them. (Interview, 2006)

[From page 122 of 'The State We Are in on the Eve of World Archaeological Congress (WAC) 6: Archaeology in Ireland vs Corporate Takeover' in Public Archaeology, Vol. 7, No. 2, Summer 2008, 114-129 by Maggie Ronayne, Department of Archaeology, National University of Ireland, Galway]

Art auction for Tara delegation to UNESCO - 21 June - Pearse family home, Dublin

2008-06-17T16:29:00.002+01:00

TaraWatch is sending a delegation to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting, to the held in Quebec City, 2-10 July, to lobby for the preservation of the Hill of Tara archaeological complex, being threatened by the M3 motorway construction works.

This initiative is being taken in response to the proposal by Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, to make a World Heritage site, with the M3 passing through the middle of it. TaraWatch supports the nomination of Tara, but wants UNESCO to insist that the M3 is re-routed first.

An art auction is being held on Saturday, 21 June, in the Pearse family home, at 27 Pearse Street, Dublin, in order to fund the delegation. The house was the birth place of Pádraig Pearse, (10 November 1879 – 3 May 1916) Pearse was a teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist and political activist who was one of the revolutionary leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising. The perfectly restored building now houses the Ireland Institute for Historical and Cultural Studies. Pearse is recorded as wanting the 1916 Proclamation of Independence read out on the Hill of Tara, as well as outside the General Post Office,on O'Connell Street, where he read it out at the beginning of the Easter Rising.

Works of art are being donated by a number of celebrated Irish artists, including Louis le Brocquy, Jim Fitzpatrick and Tom Mathews. The auction remains open for other artists to donate works, if they wish to participate.

The print being donated by Louis le Brocquy can be viewed at the Taylor Galleries, 16 Kildare Street, up until the day of the auction. Mr le Brocquy will also provide a written statement, concerning the artistic importance of Tara, to be submitted to UNESCO.

All the works will be on display at Pearse House, from 11.00am onwards, on 21 June. The auction itself will take place at 7.00pm.

For more information, please contact info@tarawatch.org / +353-87-972-8603

The artists

Jim Fitzpatrick is an Irish artist famous for Irish Celtic Art. Perhaps his most famous piece is his iconic two-tone portrait of Che Guevara created in 1968 and based on a photo by Alberto Korda. In 1978, he wrote and lavishly illustrated a book called The Book of Conquests, retelling of a cycle of Irish myths, the Lebor Gabála Érenn. The book retells the legends interpolated into a linear story via a series of exceptionally detailed illustrations matched with text of the deeds of might and valour contained in the myth. It is replete with intricate Celtic scrollwork and knotwork. This was followed up by The Silver Arm, which retells further portions of Irish myth. A third volume, The Son of the Sun, is listed as "in preparation" as of 2004. He has also produced artwork for Thin Lizzy, for Sinéad O'Connor's 2000 album Faith and Courage and for The Darkness' 2003 single Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End).

Louis le Brocquy (born November 10, 1916) is an Irish painter. Born in Dublin, Louis le Brocquy's work has received much international attention and many accolades in a career that spans seventy years of creative practice. Le Brocquy is widely acclaimed for his evocative "Portrait ‘Heads" of literary figures and fellow artists, which include William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, and his friends Samuel Beckett, Francis Bacon and Seamus Heaney. In 1967 Louis le Brocquy was commissioned by the publisher Liam Miller to illustrate Thomas Kinsella's inspired version of the Táin Bó Cúailnge, the dramatic record of Ireland's proto-historic past. He and his partner, artist Anne Madden, have been very vocal in their opposition to the M3 at Tara, writing letters to the Irish Times, and attending marches.

Tom Mathews was born in Dublin in 1952. After working for a time in advertising he studied Fine Art at NCAD, since leaving which in 1974 he has worked as freelance writer, critic, and cartoonist. His work appears weekly in The Irish Times and The Sunday Independent as well as in Cara Magazine, Hot Press, and other publications. He has had sixteen one-man shows to date including three exhibitions of paintings. These have also featured in the Living Art and RHA. His cartoons are in many private and public national and international collections.

Work by Tom Mathews, 2005

NEW SAVE TARA PETITION WEB SITE www.savetarapetition.net

2008-06-08T19:02:00.002+01:00

Dear Tara supporter,

Thank you to all of the 37,750 people who signed the original online petition to save the Hill of Tara from the M3 motorway in Ireland.

That small contrubution was very welcome, and all of those signatures were submitted to the Minister for Transport and the Minister for the Environment, as well as the Taoiseach himself, before he resigned. They also received significant media attention.

We now have a new peitition, addressed to UNESCO, ICOMOS and WAC, located at http://www.savetarapetition.net/

It is critical that we collect as many signatures as possible before the Sixth World Archaeological Congress (WAC-6), to be held in Dublin, beginning 29 June 2008, and the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting in Quebec, Canada, beginning 2 July 2008. WAC-6 will be holding a round table discussion about the ethics of the M3 and Tara.

The Minister for the Environment, John, Gormley, has proposed making Tara a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but with the M3 passing though the middle of it. We support the nomination to UNESCO, but want them to insist that the M3 is rerouted first.

So, please sign the new petition, forward the link to your friends, and post the link and logo on as many web sites as you can.

TaraWatch operates a SAVE TARA Cause application, on myspace and facebook. Our facebook cause has over 2,500 members, and the new myspace cause is is now ranked 1st amongst among new Envrionment causes. Please join us there, or join our email discussion list, with over 1,000 members.

If you would like to make a submission to WAC-6 or UNESCO, larger than that allowed for in the comment box of the petition, please email us at info@tarawatch.org

Thank you for your support,

TaraWatch

URGENT CALL for submissions and petition signatures to save Tara, Sixth World Archaeological Congress to meet in Dublin and discuss Tara/M3 29 June

2008-06-07T04:29:00.005+01:00

URGENT! PLEASE SIGN THE NEW TARA PETITION

Irish Times - Breaking news: 'Archaeology event to discuss Tara'
Press Association - Archaeologists discuss Hill of Tara'
Melton Times (UK) - 'Archaeologists discuss Hill of Tara'

The Sixth World Archaeological Congress (WAC-6), will meet in Dublin from 29th June to 4th July, 2008, at University College Dublin, and will hold a round table session about the ethics of the Hill of Tara / M3 motorway issue. The World Archaeological Congress (WAC) is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization and is the only archaeological organisation with elected global representation. WAC holds an international Congress every four years to promote the exchange of results from archaeological research; professional training and public education for disadvantaged nations, groups and communities; the empowerment and betterment of Indigenous groups and First Nations peoples; and the conservation of archaeological sites.

The co-organisers of the WAC Ethics Forum have selected the M3 Motorway/Hill of Tara "debate" as one of two themes to frame and discuss in public round table sessions. TaraWatch was informed yesterday by Dr Angela Labrador, Department of Anthropology, at the University of Massachussetts, Amherst, that WAC has identified them as a stakeholder for this debate. TaraWatch have been asked to submit a written position statement on the matter. This is part of the “Exploring WAC’s Approach(es) to Ethics Theme” sponsored by the WAC Standing Committee on Ethics.

Congress attendees are visiting Tara and Navan Forth Armagh for the WAC-6 Mid-Congress Tours on Wednesday 2nd July Tour 3:

"Tara and Navan – Royal Landscapes Tara in Co. Meath is associated with the high kingship of Ireland in the early medieval period. Emain Macha or Navan in Co. Armagh is the ancient capital of Ulster. Both sites are characterised by a range of archaeological sites going back in date to the Neolithic, but with a major monumental focus on the later prehistoric period. Tara and Navan both have enduring symbolic importance in modern Ireland and have been at the centre of recent debates about the impact of development."

Co-incidentally, TaraWatch launched an international online petition drive yesterday, asking UNESCO and ICOMS to intervene in the Hill of Tara issue. The petition is also addressed to “all those in attendance at WAC-6”. The petition states that it would be a breach of international law, for UNESCO and ICOMOS to declare the Hill of Tara a World Heritage site, with the M3 motorway being built through the middle of it. TaraWatch has agreed to participate in the forum. A comprehensive position statement is being prepared, with the co-operation of a number of historians, archaeologists and lawyers. The paper alleges that it would be a breach of professional ethics, as well as the World Heritage Convention, and other international charters, for UNESCO and ICOMOS to allow the M3 construction to proceed through the Tara landscape. It is of critical importance that the online petition receives as many signatures as possible, with as many comments as possible, from as many countries as possible, before the WAC-6 forum. Please do whatever you can to promote it. We already got 200 in the first 24 hours, so we're off to a good start.

WAC says it "seeks to promote interest in the past in all countries, to encourage the development of regionally-based histories and to foster international academic interaction. It is committed to the scientific investigation of the past, ethical archaeological practice and the protection of cultural heritage worldwide. It supports the empirical investigation and appreciation of the political contexts within which research is conducted and interpreted, and promotes dialogue and debate among advocates of different views of the past. WAC is committed to diversity and to redressing global inequities in archaeology through conferences, publications and scholarly programs. It has a special interest in protecting the cultural heritage of Indigenous peoples, minorities and economically disadvantaged countries, and encourages the participation of Indigenous peoples, researchers from economically disadvantaged countries and members of the public. Past Congresses have been held in England, Venezuela, India, South Africa and the USA. Patrons for past Congresses include Prince Charles (WAC-1), Nelson Mandela (WAC-4) and Harriet Fulbright (WAC-5). Selected papers from these conferences are published in the One World Archaeology Series."

NOTE - If you consider yourself a stakeholder, and want to make a submission on this, please forward it to info@tarawatch.org as soon as possible.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS on Hill of Tara / M3 motorway issue for Sixth World Archaeolocial Congress (WAC-6) round table sessionDeadline 12th June.

Please sign the new Tara petition to UNESCO/ICOMOS and WAC-6

TaraWatch recived notification on Thursday 5th June, from the WorldArchaeological Congress (WAC), Committee on Ethics, that we had been recognised as stakeholders in the ongoing Hill of Tara / M3 issue for the upcoming Sixth World Archaeological Congress, (WAC-6) to be held at University College Dublin, from the 29th June to 4th July.

We would like to extend the invitation to the public, and are offering to submit individual and group submissions, on their behalf. WAC have approved this process, and are anxious to hear from all converned parties. Submissions need to be made as soon as possible.
This is a massive boost for the Tara campaign, as it will be an opportunity for heritage experts and professionals from around the world will be looking at it from an objective and ethical standpoint. It is absolutely critical that this process is used to the utmost, to make the case for Tara, while there is still a whisper of time left to save it.

This notice is designed to share that news, and serve as a public consultation, under the laws principles and principles of Agenda 21, and sustainable development, which all public bodies, NGOs and stakeholders in the envionmental arena (including media outlets) are required to follow. Everyone has a stake in this issue, and a right to have their opinions heard. National surveys have shown that 70% of people want the M3 re-routed and an Irish Times survey showed that 82% of people surveyed think Tara should be a UNESCO site. Minister Gormley has responded that he will declare Tara a World Heritage Site, but with the motorway through it. We are campaigning to have UNESCO dcline that offer, and insist that the M3 is re-routed first.

Given the enormity of the issue, and the multiple events that have occurred over the last ten years, in relation to this project, compiling a complete dossier is a mammoth task, particularly when laws like the World Heritage Convention and the National Monuments Acts are applied to those facts, in an attempt to formulate arguments that are coherent. Expert affidavits, and technical reports make the mater all the more challenging. We are lucky to be working with some heritage experts, in this regard, but we need all of the information available, and as much co-operative assistance as possible. Hopefully, like with our successful World Monuments Fund - 100 Most Endangered Sites List nomination, we will get the job done.

The shortage of time in this matter is not our doing. We only received notice yesterday, that this issue would be raised and that we hold stakeholder status. Submissions need to be submitted in time for all the participants in the round table to have time to read and understand them - which is a week before the event, at a minimum. So, we are setting June 21, the Summer Solstice, as our date of submission. In order for us to process third party submissions, and integrate them into our own, we need to receive them at week before then, which brings us back to the 14th of June. So, we have a week to hear from as many people as possible. We are going to schedule a public event very shortly, which will explain the process in detail. In the meantime, there are a number of things you can do if you want to communicate your opinion on this matter to WAC-6, and indeed UNESCO and ICOMOS. If you prefer to stay anonymous, we will pass along the material as we are given it.

1. Please write a concise account of your opinions and/or experiences, in relation to this the Tara / M3 controversy. Address issues such as:
- why do you consider yourself a stakeholder/ why is Tara important to you?
- what is wrong/right with the M3 motorway, in relation to Tara?
- is this an indigenous rights, religious, philosophical, environmental, political, moral, economic, practical issue for you?
- what specific experiences have you had in relaiton to Tara?
- what specific experiences have you had in relation the authorities?
- what laws do you think apply?
- what solutions are available?
- how did it come to all this?

2. Place your statement into the online petition, as a comment, or mail it to info@tarawatch.org

TaraWatch launched an online petition on Wednesday 4th June 2008, addressed to UNESCO, ICOMOS and WAC-6 attendees. It was designed as a method of trying to raise the Tara issue with the WAC-6 delegates, as we were unaware that we would be invited to make a submission. Now, that peition is going to serve as a key part of our submission. It makes it easy for people to participate, and make their views known.

3. If you feel you want to assist further, there is a lot of work to be done compiling the full dossier. If you are interested in law, the environment, heritage, globalisation etc, and want to play a key role in making the case for Tara, on a world stage, please come and help us.
- please forward this notice to anyone you think might be a stakeholder
- please forward the petition link to all your contacts
- please try and attend the upcoming meeting, which will be noticed on TaraWatch.org
- please drop a line, and we'll find something for you to do.

Go raibh maith agaibh and thanks for your support!

Sign the new online SAVE TARA - UNESCO petition

2008-06-05T17:38:00.003+01:00

HILL OF TARA / M3 MOTORWAY - UNESCO / ICOMOS PETITION

THIS PETITION is addressed to:

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), which includes:

• The Director-General, Koïchiro Matsuura
• The Executive Committee of the General Conference
• The Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, called the World Heritage Committee
• All parties in attendance at the 32nd Session of the World Heritage Committee, Quebec, Canada, 2-10 July 2008.
• The Irish UNESCO Representatives

AND

The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), which includes:

• ICOMOS International
• ICOMOS Ireland
• All other national ICOMOS bodies, such as
- ICOMOS Canada,
- ICOMOS UK,
- ICOMOS US,
- ICOMOS Australia,
- ICOMOS Norway, and
- ICOMOS Aotearoa/New Zealand
• All parties in attendance at the ICOMOS Ireland AGM, Dublin, 4 June 2008
• All parties in attendance at the Sixth World Archaeological Congress, University College Dublin, 29th June to 4th July 2008

WHOSE JURISDICTIONS have been jointly invoked in this matter of great national and international importance by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local overnment, of the Republic of Ireland, John Gormley, on 11 May, 2008, in his address at the launch of the legal incorporation and charitable status designation of ICOMOS Ireland. He announced that he had retained an ICOMOS member, Dr Jukka Jokilehto to visit the sites currently on Ireland’s tentative list, as well as the Hill of Tara. Minister Gormley concluded,

“The Hill of Tara National Monument has strong merit for inclusion in an application to UNESCO for consideration as a World Heritage site”, and that he did “... not see the proposed new road (the M3 motorway) as being an obstacle to making this recommendation.”

I EARNESTLY AND RESPECTFULLY PLEAD THAT:

[I.] The Hill of Tara archaeological complex / cultural and natural landscape, in it's entirety, (hereinafer referred to as “Tara”) be inscribed onto the UNESCO List of World Heritage sites.

BUT ONLY on condition that:

[II.] The proposed M3 motorway, (hereinafter referred to as “the M3”) currently under construction, is re-routed beyond Tara, before the site is given World Heritage Site status, because he M3 is destroying the integrity of the site and landscape,

I MAKE THIS PETITION FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

- UNESCO adopted the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (“The Convention”) in 1972. Ireland ratified the Convention in 1991. The Convention has as its goal the identification and protection of cultural and national heritage of “outstanding universal value”.
- The Hill of Tara complex qualifies as a natural and cultural landscape of outstanding universal value, due to it's unique cultural significance, and the extent of the surviving remains. Tara covers a much larger area than that the 100 acres of State-owned land on the summit of the Hill, which currently delimits the 'national monument'. The M3 passes through the middle of the area to be protected. The entire Tara archaeological complex and cultural/natural landscape should be declared a World Heritage site. Expert bodies, such as the Heritage Council, have recognised Tara consists of the entire Hill of Tara along with the Tara / Skryne valley, as well as the defensive forts that encircle the hill, including national monuments such as the defensive forts of Rath Lugh (to the east), Rath Miles (to the north) and Ringlestown Rath (to the west).
- Ireland has been in breach of the Convention since 1991, by failing to nominate the Hill of Tara to be a World Heritage site, until after the M3 motorway was approved. Article 3 of the Convention states: “It is for each State Party to this Convention to identify and delineate the different properties situated on its territory". A recent UN report on Ireland's implementation of the Convention found that “Inventories, established at national and local levels, have not been used as a basis for selecting World Heritage sites”. This has resulted in the contradictory approach being taken by the Irish Government, which is on one hand facilitating destruction of significant parts of the Tara complex, and on the other, seeking International legal protection for those same parts.
- The Minister for the Environment, has breached his responsibilities under the Convention by initiating the inscription process of making Tara a World Heritage site, while at the same time, failing in his legal duty adequately protect the Tara complex from the immient threat of the M3 motorway. John Gormley, said in a department press release, 11 April 2008, that he did not see M3 motorway preventing the Hill of Tara from being nominated as a world heritage site. He said his department had engaged Dr Jukka Jokilehto, a member of ICOMOS to visit Tara and issue a report on it. It is these statements and actions that have as well as other failures to act, that have invoked the jurisdiction of international law.
- ICOMOS is an international non-governmental organization of professionals, dedicated to the conservation of the world’s historic monuments and sites, and is an offical Advistory Body to UNESCO, for purposes of implementing the World Heritage Convention. Both UNESCO and ICOMOS would also be in breach of the Convention by accepting the Minister's nomination of the Tara archaeological complex and cultural/natural landscape, without insisting that the M3 motorway is rerouted, while it still can be.
- National survey's have shown that 70% of Irish people want the M3 rerouted and an Irish Times online survey showed that 82% of people want Tara declared a UNESCO site.
- The World Monuments Fund have placed the Hill of Tara on the 2008 List of 100 Most Endangered Sites.

SIGNED

_______________________________

[Published by TaraWatch.org, 4 June 2008]

SAVE TARA myspace and facebook Causes ranking high - please add to profile

2008-06-01T23:37:00.001+01:00

If you support efforts to save the Hill of Tara from the M3 motorway, you are invited to join the new SAVE TARA myspace cause, which was launched in the last week.

We already have over 250 members and currently we are ranked:

- Ranked 2nd among small Public Advocacy causes in new members in the past week - Ranked 4th among small Public Advocacy causes in new members in the past month

The myspace Cause app is not as functional yet, as the facebook equivalent, and does not allow you to email all members, but it is still a great awareness tool. More features are promised though.

Following on from the success of the SAVE TARA facebook Causes application, which already has over 2,500 members, TaraWatch is utilising the Causes application which has now been installed our myspace page, to further the campaign to save the Hill of Tara archaeological complex from the M3 motorway.

We will be using these apps to promote the new Tara UNESCO/ICOMOS petition, which will be launched on Wed 8 June, at the ICOMOS Ireland AGM, being held at at Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland, 8 Merrion Square, Dublin

SAVE TARA MYSPACE CAUSE

SAVE TARA FACEBOOK CAUSE

TARAWATCH

Tara UNESCO Petition launch at ICOMOS Ireland meeting. Wed 4 June. Come and demonstrate!

2008-05-31T20:42:00.000+01:00

The Hill of Tara is Ireland's ancient capital, and premier national monument. However, the Irish Government is planning to build a motorway through the Gabhra Valley between the Hill of Tara and the Hill of Skryne, County Meath, just 1000 metres from the top of the Hill. It was placed on the World Monuments Fund, List of 100 Most Endangered Sites, 2008, after being nominated by TaraWatch.

The Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, said in a department press release, April 2008 that he did not see M3 motorway preventing the Hill of Tara from being nominated as a world heritage site. Mr Gormley said that he believed it would be possible to take a series of initiatives to preserve the site. The initiatives 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.

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. He said his department had engaged Dr Jukka Jokilehto, a member of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) to visit Tara and the other sites currently on what is known as the “tentative list” for inclusion.

ICOMOS is an international non-governmental organization of professionals, dedicated to the conservation of the world's historic monuments and sites.

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.

TaraWatch supports the nomination of the Hill of Tara archaeological complex and natural landscape to the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites, but is opposed to the construction of the M3 motorway through the Tara-Skryne valley. The Minister for the Environment and the Irish Government have the power to reroute the M3 motorway, away from Tara.

We call on UNESCO and ICOMOS to support the nomination of the Hill of Tara to the World Heritage list, but to insist that the M3 be rerouted first. Allowing the M3 to proceed would destroy the integrity of the site, and be a breach of the World Heritage Convention, which Ireland signed in 1992.

ICOMOS Ireland is holding its AGM in Dublin next Wed, 4th June, at Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland, 8 Merrion Square, Dublin 2.

TaraWatch will use this occasion to launch the UNESCO/ICOMOS petition, reflecting the arguments made above. We will gather there at 9.00am, peacefully demonstrate, and give copies of the petition to ICOMOS members attending the meeting.

Contact: info@tarawatch.org - +353-87-132-3365

Aosdána, the national Irish arts organisation, unanimously passed a motion petitioning Minister Gormley over Tara / M3

2008-05-29T02:34:00.001+01:00

Aosdána, the national Irish arts organisation, unanimously passed a motion at it's annual General Assembly, on Thursday, 8th May, agreeing with statements made by Seamus Heaney about the negative impact of running the M3 motorway through Tara. The Irish Arts Council established Aosdána in 1981 to honour those artists whose work has made an outstanding contribution to the arts in Ireland, and to encourage and assist members in devoting their energies fully to their art. Aosdána members meet annually in a General Assembly, to elect new members, to review the affairs of the organisation and to discuss the position of the artist, and the arts in society. The following motion, proposed by Michael Holohan and seconded by Dermot Healy, was passed by the Assembly -

"That Aosdána supports the recent statement (in The Irish Times 1st/2nd March 2008) [below] by our fellow member Seamus Heaney that the surrounding archaeological landscape beside the ancient hill of Tara has been "desacralised" by the construction of the M3 motorway and consequently Aosdána calls upon the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to strengthen the present legislation (National Monuments Act 2004) immediately in order to prevent the further destruction of our other national archaeological sites"

Further reading: Sunday Tribune - A portrait of the artists ignoring the elephant in the drawing room

Heaney claims motorway near Tara desecrates sacred landscape

The Irish Times - Saturday, March 1, 2008

POET AND Nobel laureate Séamus Heaney has described the M3 motorway as a ruthless desecration of the sacred landscape around the Hill of Tara, in a BBC documentary to be broadcast today at 11.30am on Radio Ulster, writes Frank McDonald, Environment Editor

In the same programme, Dr Jonathan Foyle, British chief executive of the World Monuments Fund, which placed Tara on its endangered sites list last year, likened the motorway to the destruction by Afghanistan's Taliban regime in 2001 of the Bamiyan Buddhas. In his interview with BBC reporter Diarmaid Fleming, Prof Heaney said the motorway "literally desecrates an area - I mean the word means to desacralise' and, for centuries, the Tara landscape and the Tara sites have been regarded as part of the sacred gound".

Referring to the 1916 Proclamation having summoned the Irish people "in the name of the dead generations", he said: "If ever there was a place that deserved to be preserved in the name of the dead generations from pre-historic times . . . it was Tara". Prof Heaney added: "I suppose Tara means something equivalent to me to what Delphi means to the Greeks or maybe Stonehenge to an English person or Nara in Japan . . .It conjures up what they call in Irish dúchas, a sense of belonging a sense of patrimony, a sense of an ideal. "The traces on Tara are in the grass, in the earth. They aren't spectacular like temple ruins in Greece but they are about origin, they're about beginning, they're about the mythological, spiritual source - something that gives the country its distinctive spirit."

He recalled that WB Yeats, George Moore and Arthur Griffith had written a letter to The Irish Times (below) complaining that the British Israelites, who thought the Ark of the Covenant was buried at Tara, were desecrating a "consecrated landscape" by digging there.So, I thought to myself, if a few holes in the ground made by amateur archaeologists was a desecration, what's happening to that whole countryside being ripped up [for the M3] is certainly a much more ruthless piece of work," Prof Heaney said. According to Dr Foyle, the entire Tara complex "is the equivalent of Stonehenge, Westminster Abbey for its royal associations and Canterbury for its Christian associations all rolled into one" yet it was being destroyed "to shave 20 minutes off a journey time".

Support SAVE TARA, by installing the Causes application on your Myspace

For more information please visit www.tarawatch.org

M3 protestors focus on Gormley UNESCO plan

2008-04-20T17:14:00.000+01:00

ICOMOS International: World Heritage Day 2008 Description
ICOMOS Ireland: Main Objectives of the company
Kashmir News: On World Heritage Day, students wake up to Kashmir heritage 'vandalism'
Pakistan Daily TImes: UET Abbottabad Campus to celebrate World Heritage Day
BBC Scotland News: Flags fly for World Heritage Day
The Indian: ASI asks public to adopt monuments on World Heritage Day
Heritage Canada Foundation Marks World Heritage Day
Iranian orchestra honors world heritage

M3 protesters focus on Gormley's Unesco plan

The Irish Times - 19 April 2008

- By STEVEN CARROLL

RENEWED CALLS to reroute the M3 motorway from the valleys of Tara and Skryne in Co Meath have been made in response to Minister for the Environment John Gormley's recent comments on the site. The Minister said last week he did not see the planned M3 motorway preventing the Hill of Tara from being nominated as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) world heritage site. He said 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. Campaigners believe Tara would struggle to achieve the status Mr Gormley desires because of the nature of the works.

Vincent Salafia of Tarawatch said the Minister's proposal had created an opportunity to revisit the whole issue. "We're calling on Unesco to designate the Tara site and to insist that the motorway be rerouted from the area."
Mr Salafia said the designation of Tara as a world heritage site could drum up international support. "International pressure is our best hope for saving Tara. If Ireland wants to use Unesco to help deliver tourists to world heritage sites in Ireland, they must enforce Unesco standards of preservation in those areas." He also said there was a possibility that another legal challenge to try to reroute the motorway would take place.

His comments came yesterday on International Day for Monuments and Sites 2008, which was marked by a World Heritage Forum at Trinity College, Dublin. The theme for the forum, which focused heavily on the Hill of Tara situation, was "Religious Heritage and Sacred Places".

Dr Sarah Alyn-Stacey, of the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Trinity College, asked why the Minister had left it until this late stage to seek Unecso status for the Tara site when archaeological evidence of the site's historic wealth had been present for so long. Speaking last week, Mr Gormley said his department had engaged Dr Jukka Jokilehto, a Finnish-born conservation expert, to visit Tara and the other sites on what is known as the "tentative list" for Unesco.

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW TO HELP SAVE TARA

Tara can still be played. There are many things you can do to make that happen. Write to UNESCO and ICOMOS, demanding that the M3 be rerouted before the Hill of Tara is declared a World Heritage Site. Join our mailing list, for more information, or email us at info@tarawatch.org

WRITE to the Irish Times: lettersed@irish-times.ie

JOIN TaraWatch mailing list

JOIN TaraWatch facebook cause

WRITE TO ICOMOS

ICOMOS International Secretariat
49-51, rue de la fédération
75015 Paris, France

Tel: +33 (0)1 45 67 67 70
Fax: +33 (0)1 45 66 06 22
e-mail: secretariat@icomos.org

WRITE TO UNESCO!

7, place de Fontenoy
75352 Paris 07 SP
France

1, rue Miollis
75732 Paris Cedex 15
France

- General phone:
+33 (0)1 45 68 10 00
- Fax:
+33 (0)1 45 67 16 90
- Telex:
204461 Paris;
270602 Paris
- Website:
www.unesco.org
- E-mail: bpi@unesco.org

World Heritage Day forum at Trinity College Dublin - Friday 18 April

2008-04-15T13:30:00.001+01:00

WORLD HERITAGE DAY 2008

Friday 18th April

Religious Heritage and Sacred Places

Sponsored by Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies

Trinity College Dublin

SWIFT THEATRE

2.00pm - 6.00pm

Admission free

===

The Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Trinity College Dublin will mark 'World Heritage Day', Friday, 18th April 2008.

ICOMOS - The International Council on Monuments and Sites, is hosting International Day for Monuments and Sites 2008.

The theme for this year is "Religious Heritage and Sacred Places" - which is particularly appropriate for the Hill of Tara.

A number of high profile speakers will address the recent announcement by Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, that a member of ICOMOS has been retained in order to promote the nomination of the Hill of Tara archaeological complex, to UNESCO World Heritage status, despite the M3 motorway being built through it.

http://www.tarawatch.org / info@tarawatch.org

WORLD MONUMENTS DAY - ICOMOS

The International Day for Monuments and Sites was created on 18th April, 1982, by ICOMOS and later approved at the 22nd UNESCO General Conference in 1983. This special day offers an opportunity to raise public awareness concerning the diversity of the world's heritage and the efforts that are required to protect and conserve it, as well as to draw attention to its vulnerability.

For several years now, ICOMOS suggests a topic to be highlighted on this occasion, among the multiple dimensions which make up the vast subject that is the cultural heritage we care for. This has allowed our members and our committees to hold activities, conferences, colloquia or other events to raise awareness on this cultural heritage among the public, the owners or the public authorities by linking a global theme to local or national realities.

This year, to mark the 18th April, ICOMOS encourages its National Committees, its International Scientific Committees and members to organise activities with regards to the theme Religious heritage and sacred places.

A universally present dimension, religious practices and beliefs have led human societies to mark their spaces, build places, carry out works or build up archives loaded with meaning and memories making it one of the most important components of the heritage in today's world. This theme expresses itself in landscapes through place names, or rites and pilgrimages linked to certain natural elements. In addition, in creating this heritage, many past and current societies brought together the sum of all their arts and sciences in the construction of
large or modest buildings and the objects they include.

Nowadays, the conservation of this heritage in its heritage dimension can constitute a major challenge for a community. This raises the need to share experiences; for example, that of the Quebec Religious Heritage Foundation in Canada, an innovative model of interdenominational dialogue, which carried out a vast programme (more than 200 million US dollars in 10 years) to restore places of worship and works of art and to adapt such buildings for shared uses, based on ICOMOS principles. At a time when religion is increasingly being recognized by the international community as being one of the major issues for decades to come, the 18 April 2008 will be the occasion for ICOMOS members and committees to take stock of the various dimensions of knowledge, conservation and presentation of this vast heritage. It also offers an opportunity to establish links with the authorities who own or administer places of worship and to enlist their support for ICOMOS and its principles.

In preparation for 18 April 2008, we thus invite you to devise activities and joint events to identify examples of practices or achievements worthy of sharing with your colleagues world-wide to reinforce conservation action, our foremost mission. Such collaboration could be for instance with the religious authorities responsible for these heritage places or with a public or municipal administration, a university, a school or with other associations to build bridges and initiate dialogues which will help us to communicate ICOMOS' concerns to the users of, those responsible for or researchers working on religious heritage and sacred places.

We thank you in advance for all your initiatives and ask you to inform the ICOMOS Secretariat, as early as possible, of the activities you plan to undertake for 18 April, but also to share their results with us (programme, participation, declarations, and publications). This will help us to disseminate information and to gather conclusions on all your activities, so as to be able to testify of the vitality of ICOMOS' network.

In the coming weeks and months, the ICOMOS International Secretariat will be further developing these special web pages to provide you with more ample information on this year's theme. Please consult them regularly!

Hill of Tara set to become UNECSO site, despite M3

2008-04-11T19:39:00.003+01:00

M3 not to stop Tara getting world status, says Gormley

Irish Times - Friday, April 11, 2008

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. 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.

M3 'won't derail' Tara heritage bid

Irish independent - Friday April 11 2008

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

Professor George Eogan TaraWatch interview at Rath Lugh, 21 March 2008

2008-03-23T00:20:00.003+01:00

Interview with professor George Eogan on Rath Lugh national monument, Hill of Tara.

By Vincent Salafia, TaraWatch, March 21 2008.

The National Roads Authority have just erected a metal fence, to keep protesters from interfering with M3 motorway construction works, which are directly impacting the Rath Lugh national monument, and severing the archaeological complex.

George Eogan

Director of Knowth Research Project and Professor Emeritus of Archaeology, University College, DublinGeorge Eogan (Ph.D., Trinity College, Dublin) is a leading expert in the archaeology of Ireland, with particular interest in the Neolithic and Late Bronze Ages. He is the Director of the Knowth Research Project and has been excavating at Knowth for more than 40 years as part of his investigation of the Passage Tomb builders in Ireland and Western Europe. Professor Eogan is a native of Ireland and has taught and lectured extensively on the country’s archaeology. Now Professor Emeritus of Archaeology, University College, Dublin, his archaeological research has led to approximately 90 papers and nine books, including The Accomplished Art: Gold and Gold-working in Britain and Ireland During the Bronze Age (Oxbow Books, 1994), Knowth and the Passage Tombs of Ireland (Thames and Hudson, 1986), and (with M. Herity) Ireland in Prehistory (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1977).

Saint patrick Wears SAVE TARA t-shirt in Dublin parade

2008-03-18T19:04:00.000+01:00

Saint Patrick wearing SAVE TARA t-shirt in Dublin Parade. Photograph courtesy of Niall Carson, PA.

Cities and towns put final touches to big day plans

Irish Times - 17 march 2008
ALISON HEALY

FIVE DAYS of St Patrick's Festival events will culminate in Ireland's biggest ever St Patrick's Day parade in Dublin today. More than 3,000 participants will take part in this year's parade, which will begin snaking its way through the city centre at noon. It will start at Parnell Square North and travel down O'Connell Street, passing the grandstand at the GPO, from where President Mary McAleese will be watching. The parade will then go up Westmoreland Street, turn on to Dame Street and up to Christchurch Cathedral before ending at St Patrick's Cathedral. The parade may move a little quicker this year as Olympian athlete Eamonn Coghlan will be Grand Marshal. This year marks 25 years since he broke the world record for the indoor mile.

The spectacle is expected to take two hours to wind its way along the 3km route and organisers estimate that it will attract more than 500,000 people. The parade will also be broadcast live on RTÉ. Some 16 marching bands from countries such as the US, Japan and Italy will provide entertainment. There will be 11 pageants from street theatre companies and theatre groups from Ireland and further afield. The Céilí Mór, which is being billed as the world's largest outdoor Irish music and dance event, will then get under way at Earlsfort Terrace at 2.30 pm.

Meanwhile, in Cork some 50 floats will take part in the parade which will start at 1pm at the Parnell Place end of the South Mall. Roads will be closed in the area from noon to 5pm. Belfast's St Patrick's Day celebrations will centre on a carnival parade, which leaves City Hall at 12pm. It will be followed by a free concert in the 5,000-capacity Custom House Square at 1pm. The Galway parade starts at Dominick Street at 12.30pm, before making its way to the city's Eyre Square. The parade will feature a traditional Nigerian tribe from the Association of Nigerians in Galway, Bog People from Macnas, a Norse tribe and boat from the Galway Traveller Movement, and a tribe of "St Patricks with snakes" from the Brothers of Charity.

The Limerick city parade will begin at 12 noon and will be grand marshalled by the Munster rugby team's most capped player Anthony Foley. You're a Star finalist Leanne Moore will also travel home from Dublin to take part in the event. The theme of this year's parade is "The United Colours of Limerick" and multi-cultural groups with origins in Poland, Nigeria and the Philippines will take part. Waterford's St Patrick's Day parade takes place on the City Quays from 1pm. The parade in Dingle, in Co Kerry will be the first of the day in the country as it will be held pre-dawn as usual. The Tralee parade kicks off at noon on JJ Sheehy Road. Members of the Kingdom's All-Ireland football winning team will carry the Sam Maguire trophy along the parade and the town square will feature traditional music over the weekend.

The Killarney parade will begin at Ross Road at 2pm and will be led by Antarctic explorer Pat Falvey. Listowel marked its 30th annual St Patrick's Day parade yesterday with contributions by several sporting groups including the Kerry County GAA club champions, the local Feale Rangers. Other parades were held in Kilflynn and Causeway. Durrow, Co Laois also beat the rush by holding its 18th century "non-motorised" St Patrick's Day parade yesterday. The village is celebrating its 300th anniversary and this was reflected in the floats which included 18th century themed carriages with locals dressed in period costumes.

Meanwhile, the TaraWatch group which is campaigning against the route of the M3 motorway in Meath, has criticised the failure of Navan Meath Chambers of Commerce and Meath County Council to hold a St Patrick's Day parade.

"The same people who are championing the Government-sponsored destruction of Tara, are also telling us that Saint Patrick is no longer worth celebrating," Vincent Salafia of TaraWatch said.

Tara protesters parade in Sydney

Irish Times - 17 March 2008

John Ingram, an Aboriginal man with Irish heritage, led the parade dressed as St Patrick in Sydney, writes Pádraig Collins.

A GROUP opposed to the construction of a motorway near the Hill of Tara in Co Meath paraded past the Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey at yesterday's St Patrick's Day parade in Sydney. The Tara Appreciation Society's parade entry featured about 10 people behind a banner saying "Tara - 7,000 years of Irish History". "It's great, wonderful democracy. I was delighted to see Tara promoted," Mr Dempsey told The Irish Times.

In contrast to the rest of the marchers, who were mostly wearing green, the Tara Appreciation Society members stood out by mostly wearing black. The group's website said their lack of numbers in the parade was "due to approaches to the [St Patrick's Day parade] committee". "While we wanted this to be a festive community effort allowing families, etc, to join us in celebrating Tara's unique history . . . we have now restricted who can join us in the parade."

The protest has not led to a change of heart though. "There are procedures that are decided upon," Mr Dempsey said. This year's parade, which was watched by a crowd of about 10,000, was led by John Ingram, an Aboriginal man with Irish heritage, who was dressed as St Patrick. All 32 counties were represented in the parade, as were Irish cultural organisations, Sydney GAA clubs and local pipe bands.

"This year was as good as it has ever been," said Tommy McAdam from Co Monaghan, who has lived in Sydney since 1956. "There were more floats than I've seen before and there's a great crowd watching too." Also enjoying the parade was Sister Christina O'Connor of the Sisters of St Joseph, whose mother was from Wexford and father from Clare. "The Patrician Brothers and World Youth Day sections were very good," said Sr Christina.

The Catholic Church's World Youth Day, which is held every three years, is being held in Sydney in July. Swiss man Racheed Ahmed was wearing a Kerry jersey while watching the parade. "One of the Irish girls I work with gave it to me," he said. "We are the only west Europeans where I work. I've been to every St Patrick's Day parade in Sydney since 1996."

Broken syntax identity of a nation tongue-tied by Irish

Irish Times - Opinion, 17 March 2008

WHAT AN interesting St Patrick's Day this is, with the Hill of Tara under siege by Government forces and the Irish language's only hope of survival residing with Des Bishop. It is probably just as well that our parliamentary representatives are on the guts of a month's holidays, worn out from counting their money, writes Anne-Marie Hourinhane

Not much other news, really, except for the implosion of our rugby team and the understandable excitement caused by the fact that 100 new jobs have been created at the Homecare store in Cavan. Thank goodness the Fianna Fáil press office had the good sense to issue a press release on the subject of the latter event.

So, all in all, we have to say that this Irish language revival business is not really such a big surprise. Things are kind of slow. There are those of us who suspect that the Irish language often raises its tired old head at such moments of cultural sluggishness. As Des Bishop has it, we're turning to the first national language now that every Irish town has a Starbucks. In other words, when we haven't got any other ideas.

Perhaps it was the same for Pádraig Pearse, for whom Irish really was a first love. When he went to lecture the men of Connemara about how important it was for them to stay where they were and speak the Irish language, they replied that the language was no good to them "beyond the burned house".

The burned house was a derelict building on the outskirts of their town. It marked the beginning of the outside world, where they had to go to find work to support their families. Pearse's reply to this is, as far as I know, unrecorded.

Poor Pearse, his own Irish was criticised by some fellow language activists as inferior, and this hurt him deeply. Irish language experts always muttered to each other about someone having "lovely Irish", and it seemed that you could not acquire this lovely Irish easily, no matter how hard you tried. Like most elites, this is one into which you supposedly had to be born. And the laugh of it all was that the people who were really born into it - such as the poor of Connemara and of the Blaskets - were left in grinding poverty, their communities destroyed. And they had to go off to speak their lovely Irish in America.

You have to admire the sectarianism of Irish. In such a tiny country, there do seem to be an awful lot of different ways to speak it; the language has been used by a series of secret societies to keep out the stranger.

Before we launch into a 21st-century version of Buntus Cainte we should take time out to lie down for a couple of hours with a copy of Hugo Hamilton's The Speckled People, a portrait of a home where Irish reigned supreme and terrifying.

One of the most bitter arguments I ever witnessed was at a wedding reception in west Belfast, at the height of the hunger strikes. It was about the ability to speak Irish. A married couple were insulted because they had been slighted for not being able to speak Irish.

The husband pointed out that they had never had the opportunity to learn it, because neither of them had been in jail. He further pointed out that both he and his wife had collected money faithfully for the local Irish language classes. This man was almost in tears. Of course we were all, as that old Gaelic scholar, Paul Whitehouse, would put it, frightfully drunk. Nevertheless, that was the moment when I realised that the Irish language was a competitive sport. This has been off-putting for someone who didn't learn what "le cunadh De" meant until she was 44.

If only Irish came by itself, instead of trailing the puritanism, the cliquishness and the superiority that have been its death knell for the past century. In modern times the Irish language has always been a protest. It became the hijab of our fragile Irishness - a little fragment of cloth which was a symbol of rejection of the modern world, and hatred of it. It was imposed by men and women who had won some sort of ideological war, but who were a tad short on ideology. Let's not take it up again now just because we've been forced to take a break from house buying.

To hear teenagers quietly speaking Irish. To read Maurice O'Sullivan's Twenty Years A-Growing. To find out that the endearment "macushla" comes from the Irish word for pulse. These are the things that would encourage a person to look more closely at the Irish language.

It is interesting to hear that there is an Irish-language lunch each Thursday in the Law Library, where they munch a few "ceapairí" (sandwiches) through the medium, but it doesn't exactly send you running for the dictionary, does it? I mean, if barristers are that patriotic why don't they just drop their fees? But then, as the old saying goes, all beginnings are weak."

Seamus Heaney condemns M3 motorway 'descecration' of Tara

2008-03-02T03:23:00.001+01:00

Related stories from TaraWatch:

The Gaurdian: Heaney hits at 'desecration' of sacred Tara
BBC News: Heaney hits out over 'tara over Tara'
RTE News: Tara called 'endangered site' (video)
The Independent: Ancient Hill of Tara is put on 'crisis list' backed by WMF over road
The Irish Times: Hill of Tara set for endangered list
The Telegraph: British and Irish sites join global danger list The Gaurdian: Music hall and prehistoric site on endangered list
RTE News: Protestors play harps outside Dáil
Irish Examiner (USA): Once Through Tara's Hall

Heaney claims motorway near Tara desecrates sacred landscape

The Irish Times - Saturday, March 1, 2008

In his interview with BBC reporter Diarmaid Fleming, Prof Heaney said the motorway "literally desecrates an area - I mean the word means to desacralise' and, for centuries, the Tara landscape and the Tara sites have been regarded as part of the sacred gound".

Prof Heaney added: "I suppose Tara means something equivalent to me to what Delphi means to the Greeks or maybe Stonehenge to an English person or Nara in Japan . . .It conjures up what they call in Irish dúchas, a sense of belonging a sense of patrimony, a sense of an ideal.

"The traces on Tara are in the grass, in the earth. They aren't spectacular like temple ruins in Greece but they are about origin, they're about beginning, they're about the mythological, spiritual source - something that gives the country its distinctive spirit."

According to Dr Foyle, the entire Tara complex "is the equivalent of Stonehenge, Westminster Abbey for its royal associations and Canterbury for its Christian associations all rolled into one" yet it was being destroyed "to shave 20 minutes off a journey time".

LISTEN TO BBC TARA DOCUMENTARY, AIRED 01 MARCH 2008

The Hill of Tara
From: The Times June 27 1902
To: The Editor of The Times (London)
Sir- We have just returned from a visit to the Hill of Tara, where we found that the work of destruction, abandoned a year or two ago, has begun again. Labourers are employed to dig through the mounds and ditches that mark the siteof the ancient Royal duns and houses. We saw them digging and shovelling without any supervision, hopelessly mixing the different layers of earth and altering the contour of the hill.This is not being done through any antiquarian zeal; but; appartently, that the sect which believes the English to be descended from the Ten Tribes may find the Ark of the Covenant
We are assured that the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland can do nothing in this case, for by the Ancients Monuments Protection Act of 1882 they can only interfere when the "owner" has himself "constituted" them "the guardians of the monument."
All we can do under the circumstances is to draw the attention of the public to this desecration. Tara is, because of its associations, probably the most consecrated spot in Ireland, and its destruction will leave many bitter memories behind
We are, Sir, yours truly
Douglas Hyde, LL.D
George Moore
W. B. Yeats
Dublin, June 24

Heaney hits out over 'tar on Tara'
Diarmaid Fleming
BBC News

The construction of a motorway by the Irish Government through one of Ireland's most historic areas has been condemned in a BBC Radio Ulster documentary, Tar on Tara, by the country's foremost poet, Seamus Heaney, and other international experts.

The M3 motorway is well under construction through the lush green and historical countryside of County Meath.

Ireland's biggest ever road project stretches 61km and is expected to cost around 800m euros.

This is the poet's first broadcast interview on the issue

The motorway will take traffic north of Dublin, serving towns such as Kells and Navan in County Meath, and counties Cavan, Fermanagh and Donegal beyond.

Towns in Meath and Cavan are now home to thousands of people working in Dublin many unable to afford to live there due to high property prices in the Irish capital.

Numerous new housing estates have sprung up in towns and villages during Ireland's recent economic boom.

The speed of house-building has not been matched with investment in transport however, meaning that all commuters are forced to rely on road transport to get to Dublin. The area's only railway line is used for freight only.

Best jams

The existing N3 road hosts the country's worst traffic jams outside of Dublin, with trips between the city and Cavan 70 miles away taking well over two hours and sometimes even longer during rush-hour.

Cars, trucks and buses snake in long lines through towns like Dunshaughlin, choking them for hours in mornings and evenings.

The government decided a motorway was needed, with a new route away from the existing N3 road, instead bringing it through an area which is described by archaeologists internationally as the most important in Ireland and of world significance.

The road under construction will run through the Tara Skreen valley, an area which has been of historical and religious significance in Ireland for thousands of years, with archaeological finds dating back to 4000BC.

The Tara complex is bounded by the Hill of Tara, seat of the ancient High Kings of Ireland, and a place of sacred worship in both pagan and Christian times.

If ever there was a place that deserved to be preserved in the name of the dead generations from pre-historic times up to historic times up to completely recently - it was Tara

Seamus Heaney

Because the area represents such a long continuum of history - compared to other world famous monuments such as Stonehenge covering a shorter period of time - archaeologists say Tara is of extreme value in world terms.

Each generation has followed the next in their reverence for the area, allowing archaeological experts to tell the story of civilisation in Ireland, as well as historical and religious worship, through the messages in its landscape and the artefacts left in its soil.

Neither the National Roads Authority (NRA) nor the Irish minister for transport and local Meath TD Noel Dempsey were prepared to be interviewed for the documentary.

The NRA has said however, that the road was chosen after public consultation, and that its choice was influenced by a range of factors it has to consider, of which archaeology is only one.

Other factors such as the need to demolish homes, and to go through environmentally sensitive areas also had to be taken into account, the authority says.

But critics say that the area, because of its unique sacred and historical importance, should never have been contemplated as the route for the road in the first place.

'Ruthless'

Seamus Heaney in his first broadcast interview on the subject, told BBC Radio Ulster that the plan was a "ruthless desecration".

"I think it literally desecrates an area - I mean the word means to de-sacralise and for centuries the Tara landscape and the Tara sites have been regarded as part of the sacred ground," he said.

"I was just thinking actually the Proclamation of the Irish Republic in 1916 summoned people in the name of the dead generations and called the nation, called the people in the name of the dead generations.

"If ever there was a place that deserved to be preserved in the name of the dead generations from pre-historic times up to historic times up to completely recently, it was Tara."

The Nobel Laureate also said that under British rule in Ireland, Tara appeared to have more protection than in today's Irish Republic.

TWork on the 800m euro project is already well under way

He said: "I was reading around recently and I discovered that WB Yeats and George Moore, two writers at the turn of the century and Arthur Griffith, wrote a letter to the Irish Times sometime at the beginning of the last century because a society called the British Israelites had thought that the Arc of the Covenant was buried in Tara, and they had started to dig on Tara Hill.

"And they wrote this letter and they talked about the desecration of a consecrated landscape. So I thought to myself if a few holes in the ground made by amateur archaeologists was a desecration, what is happening to that whole countryside being ripped up is certainly a much more ruthless piece of work."

Mr Heaney said that the Celtic Tiger was attacking the ancient symbol of Ireland, the harp.

"It will be a sort of signal that the priorities on these islands have changed, I mean the Tiger is now lashing its tail and smashing its way through the harp - the strings of the harp are being lashed by the tail of the tiger," he said.

Heaney said that Tara was unique to him as an Irishman.

"Tara means something equivalent to me to what Delphi means to the Greeks or maybe Stonehenge to an English person or Nara in Japan, which is one of the most famous sites in the world," he said.

"It's a word that conjures an aura - it conjures up what they call in Irish dúchas, a sense of belonging , a sense of patrimony, a sense of an ideal, an ideal of the spirit if you like, that belongs in the place and if anywhere in Ireland conjures that up - it's Tara - it's a mythical site of course.

"I mean the traces on Tara are in the grass, are in the earth - they aren't spectacular like temple ruins would be in the Parthenon in Greece but they are about origin, they're about beginning, they're about the mythological, spiritual source - a source and a guarantee of something old in the country and something that gives the country its distinctive spirit."

It was a government which decided that these monuments would be erased and cultural erasure is part of the game of war and buildings very often suffer from that

Dr Jonathan Foyle

Tara has been placed by the New York-headquartered World Monuments Fund (WMF) on its list of the world's 100 most endangered sites.

WMF UK chief executive Dr Jonathan Foyle was scathing of the Irish government's actions in routing the motorway through the valley, saying it ranked with the actions of the Taleban regime in Afghanistan.

"The World Monuments Fund watch list contains all sorts of endangered sites - this one actually reminds me of the Bamiyan Buddhas which were destroyed by the Taleban in 2001 against international uproar," said Dr Foyle.

"It was a government which decided that these monuments would be erased and cultural erasure is part of the game of war and buildings very often suffer from that.

"It's scarcely more creditable to say we will destroy a building which is of equal significance to the Bamiyan Buddhas - let's face it, this entire site is the equivalent of Stonehenge, Westminster Abbey for its royal associations, Canterbury for its Christian associations - all rolled into one."

Hundreds of academics, archaeologists and conservationist from around the world have written to the Irish government to register their opposition to the M3 route.

Twenty-seven members of the European Parliament have written to the government also, after a visit to the area by some resulted in a highly critical report of the project.

Legality

The European Commission is considering legal action against the Irish government which granted itself the powers in 2004 to destroy features or areas of archaeological importance classified as national monuments if in the national interest.

These powers were granted after the government lost a battle in the Irish Supreme Court against archaeological campaigners over the destruction of another monument during the construction of part of the M50 motorway in Dublin.

A national monument at Lismullen close to Tara was discovered last year when an ancient "henge" or ceremonial temple was unearthed in the route of the M3 on 1 April, and then destroyed after its features were recorded.

While experts agreed the henge remnants could not be preserved once exposed, the European Commission is considering legal action over the European legality of Irish law relating to the powers the government has granted itself to destroy national monuments.

However, any action will not stop the road, well under construction by Irish and Spanish joint-venture SIAC Ferrovial, and expected to be completed within two years.

While Irish government politicians and supporters of the motorway such as business organisations frequently claim the road - and not the archaeologists - have the support of the majority of people, a recent opinion poll suggests the opposite. A national poll by Red C Research said that 62% opposed the route of the road, almost double the 32% in favour.

But whatever the views now, those who want to see the motorway come to Tara have won the day.

Future generations studying Tara will see the 21st century's major contribution to an area charting thousands of years of civilisation in Ireland was the new M3 motorway and its associated development.

Tar on Tara is broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster at 1430 GMT on Sunday 2 March.

For more information visit TaraWatch.org

EVening Herald: Bertie's on 'on par with the Taliban'

2008-02-22T12:25:00.002+01:00

Bertie's on par with the Taliban

Evening Herald

21 February 2008

THE Irish Government has been described as 'on par with the Taliban' by an environmental group who plan to disrupt Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's address to Washington DC.

Campaigners opposed to the development at the site of Tara have threatened a "large demonstration" in the US capital when the Taoiseach speaks to Congress at the end of April.

He will be only the fifth world leader to have addressed both the Joint Houses of Congress and the Joint Houses of Parliament in the UK.

'Save Tara' protesters against the M3 motorway said that now a date has been set, mobilisation of demonstrators in the US will begin in earnest.

They claim the Irish Government's attitude to Tara puts it on par with the Taliban who destroyed the Bamiyan Bhuddas in Afganistan.

TaraWatch said that over the last years it has built a strong network of support in major cities across the US.

Demonstrations at Irish Consulate offices have already been held in New York, Chicago, LA and San Francisco.

To join TaraWatch USA, please email info@tarawatch.org

Townsend Urges People to Let Their Voices be Heard and Save Tara

2008-02-16T15:41:00.001+01:00

Charlize Theron and Stuart Townsend at the Meteor Music Awards in Dublin

PRESS RELEASE

TARAWATCH.org

16 February 2008

'Townsend Urges People to Let Their Voices be Heard and Save Tara'

Dublin-born actor Stuart Townsend spoke out again against the M3 motorway being built in the Hill of Tara archaeological complex today at the premiere of his film 'Battle in Seattle' at the Dublin International Film Festival.

Written and directed by Townsend and starring Charlize Theron, 'Battle in Seattle' was screened at the Savoy in Dublin today at 11am and was followed by a post-screening discussion with the pair.

'Battle in Seattle' chronicles the protests at the World Trade Organisation meeting in Seattle in 1999 and marks Townsend's feature directing debut.

During the discussion, he commented that:

"If more people had protested against the idea of building a road on such as important site, the Government would not have even tried to go ahead with it.

But he stressed it was not too late to reverse the project, and said:

"People should let their voices be heard. This fim shows what people power can do, and Tara should be no different.

His comments come at a critical time in the campaign, with a new High Court challenge launched last week by Gordon Lucas, and with ever-increasing bitter clashes between demonstroators and construction workers on the site.

Vincent Salafia of TaraWatch said:

"Even though we have won the hearts and minds battle on this issue, with 2/3 of Irish people opposed to the M3 route in a recent Red C Opinion poll, our challenge is enabling people to forcefully express that opinion.

"We hope Stuarts consistent vocal opposition stirs a change of heart in the administration, and inspires more of the public to speak out.

"Stuart has also been working very hard behind the scenes to lobby Minister Gormley on this issue.

"We hope today's comments will help to put the matter into prespective for the Government, and will give the campaign a wider international profile.

ENDS

Video of Jonathan Rhys Meyers protesting on Hill of Tara, Ireland, against M3 motorway

2008-01-25T00:28:00.000+01:00

Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Stuart Townsend on the Hill of Tara

Irish actor

Jonathan Rhys Meyers, of The Tudors, is interviewed by Vincent Salafia of TaraWatch on the Hill of Tara, Ireland and speaks out against the M3 motorway plan which will 'urbanise' the area. Taken during the making of a human harp being, consisting of 3000 people, being photographed by John Quigley on 23 September 2007.

Click here to view video [Filmed by Mel Cannon of Cannon Productions]

View slide show of images taken during the making of the human harp

Listen to audio of radio interview with Vincent Salafia

Aerial images by Paula Geraghty

New song by Rónán Ó Snodaigh in support of TaraWatch available on myspace

2007-11-14T21:25:00.000+01:00

The song Sruth an Ath was written and performed by Rónán Ó Snodaigh, singer and bodhrán(drum) player with Kíla, one or Ireland's top traditional bands. You can listen to it on myspace.

The song was recorded for TaraWatch, who are campaigning to save the Hill of Tara Ireland's ancient capital and premier national monument, from the M3 motorway. It will appear on the forthcoming TaraWatch album 'Tara of the Kings', which will feature artists like Eamon Carr (of Horslips) & Richie Buckley - Paddy Casey - Mundy - Liam Ó Maonlaí - Mic Christopher - Camille O'Sullivan - Larry Beau - Kila - Eoin Dillon and many other Irish artists. The single was engineered by Dave Slevin at Virtu Studios

Tara / M3 motorwaty presentation - University of Limerick - Thur 8 Nov, 7 - 9 pm

2007-11-07T03:15:00.000+01:00

TaraWatch presentation by Vincent Salafia, JD, LL.M

An Cumann Gaelach, Na Gaeil Óga, Ollscoil Luimnigh
(Irish Society in University of Limerick)

John Holland Theatre

7-9pm, Thursday 8th November

Code D1050

Mr Salafia will discuss the crisis over the construction of the M3 motorway and the Hill of Tara, County Meath

HARPERS OF IRELAND TO GATHER AT DÁIL TO SAVE TARA

2007-09-19T01:01:00.001+01:00

HARPERS OF IRELAND TO GATHER AT DÁIL TO SAVE TARA

On Saturday 22nd September 2007 at 3 p.m. the harpers of Ireland will gather at Dáil Éireann to demonstrate publicly the strength of their opposition to the destruction of historic cultural sites at the Tara/Skryne Valley as a result of the current route of the M3 motorway.

The harpers will assemble with their harps along Kildare Street, and will submit a petition to Minister John Gormley insisting he implement alternatives to the continued destruction which is taking place.Ireland is unique in having a musical instrument, the harp, as its national emblem. This indicates the primacy of the harp in Irish culture. The sites currently under threat are inextricably linked with the harping and bardic traditions for more than 2,500 years.

Tara was the gathering place for thousands of harpers to 142 kings, and the harp was an integral part of the ancient Irish parliament at Tara. The harp has been used in the coat of arms of Ireland since 1270 and is the symbol of the Irish State today. It is found in the seals of the President, Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Government Ministers, on State currency and is the insignia of the Irish Law Courts.

It is an outrage that the Irish people should be forced to choose between infrastructure and heritage. As a country we are embarrassed internationally by profit-driven, shortsighted planning as exemplified by the fact that World Monument Fund has placed Tara on its list of 100 most endangered sites worldwide.

Many can rightly point out that it would be an archaeological loss, and a historical one. It is also a spiritual loss, since even before the conversion by St Patrick of Ireland’s High Kings it was a place where the Irish sought to express their spirituality. And significantly for us as a nation, it was the place of birth of Christianity in Ireland. The gathering of harpers says that it is also a musical and cultural loss and asserts that the sound of Tara’s harp will not be drowned by traffic jams and the cash registers of toll plazas.

Harper events will also take place in NY, Chicago, and Los Angeles outside Irish Consulates.

TARA UPDATE - TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN

Swift Theatre 12.00 - 2.00pm, Saturday, 22nd September, 2007

Admission free
TARA HARPERS

WORLD MONUMENTS FUND (WMF)

CENTRE FOR MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE STUDIES, TCD

UNION OF STUDENTS OF IRELAND, (USI)

TARAWATCH

Contact:
- Dr Sarah Alyn Stacey, Trinity College Dublin email salynsta@tcd.ie
Tel: +353-1-6082686
- TaraWatch info@tarawatch.org
Tel: +353-87-132-3365
- Tara Harpers - Laoise Kelly laoise.kelly@face.ie
Tel: +353-86-260-3405

Contact:

New York City

11:00AM Consulate General of Ireland 345 Park Avenue between 51st and 52nd

Irish Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Paul Muldoon, will attend.

Susan McKeown - savetarany@yahoo.com

http://www.myspace.com/TaraHarpersNY

Los Angeles

This demonstration will take place at 2.30-5.30pm Martin Luther King Auditorium, Santa Monica.

Karin Wilson - kw@cmh2.com (310) 828-3873

http://www.cmh2.com/savetara-la

Chicago

12 Noon-2pm Irish Embassy, Wrigley Building, 400 N.Michigan Avenue at the Chicago River
Contact: Richard Wallace 312-855-1300 ricoworld@ameritech.net -

http://www.myspace.com/32fields

TARA HARPERS PETITION

Dear Minister,

We, the undersigned HARPERS OF IRELAND, strongly object to the continued destruction of historic cultural sites at the Tara/Skryne valley as a result of the current route of the M3 motorway. If these sites are destroyed it will also have been an intentional and willful destruction of the home of the national symbol of Ireland.

Ireland is unique in having a musical instrument, the harp, as its national emblem. This indicates the primacy of the harp in Irish culture. The sites currently under threat are inextricably linked with the harping and bardic traditions for more than 2,500 years.
Tara was the gathering place for thousands of harpers to 142 kings, and the harp was an integral part of the ancient Irish parliament at Tara. The harp has been used in the coat of arms of Ireland since 1270 and is the symbol of the Irish State today. It is found in the seals of the President, Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Government Ministers, on State currency and is the insignia of the Irish Law Courts.
Many of the undersigned harpers have represented Ireland all over the world. We wish to continue to do so with pride in a country, which provides necessary transport infrastructure without destroying its valuable and irreplaceable cultural heritage.
We ask you to act without delay in rerouting the M3 motorway away from the Tara/Skryne valley using the shorter, cheaper route that does not impact so disastrously on our shared cultural heritage.
SIGNED
Laoise Kelly

Anne-Marie O'Farrell

Janet Harbison

Katie McMahon

Cormac De Barra

Gráinne Hambly

Máire Brennan

Helen Lyons

Paul Dooley

Kathleen Loughnane

Caitríona Cannon

Eibhlín McDevitt

Joleen McLoughlin

Andy Gowan

Catherine Rhatigan

Margaret Rhatigan

Mary McGeever

Michael Rooney

Brendan Ring

Lucia Mc Ginnis

Lily Neill

Kim Fleming

Tracey Fleming

Brenda Barron

Eileen Gannon

Deirdre Granville

Mary MacMaster

Corrina Hewat

Jennifer Wyatt

Hilegard Tip-Tummers

Karer Marshalsay

Alex Reidinger

Rachel Hair

Floriane Blanche

Ursula Burns

Marie O'Neil

New Independent Report Contradicts NRA Advice on Lismullin National Monument

2007-08-21T13:34:00.000+01:00

An international archaeological expert has issued an independent report which contradicts many NRA findings and recommendations regarding the newly discovered national monument in Lismullin, and calls for full preservation of the "unique" national monument.

The report, entitled 'On the Significance of Lismullin', by Dr Ronald Hicks, will be submitted to Minister for the Environment, John Gormley;the NRA; Meath County Council; and An Bord Pleanala, who are currently considering whether the demolition of the site will be in breach of planning permission.

The report is also being sent to the European Commission, who are currently examining whether the legal basis of the order to demolishthe site is in breach of EU law, as well as the World Monuments Fund, who are monitoring the situation now that Tara is on their 100 Most Endangered Sites List for 2008.

TaraWatch is calling on the Minister to examine the independent report and halt any demolition works until An Bord Pleanala have reached a decision, which is due shortly.

Dr Ronald Hicks, Chairman of the Anthropology Department at Ball State University, Indiana, endorsed the TaraWatch nomination of the Hill of Tara to the World Monuments Fund List. He recently inspected the Lismullin henge and has issued a report which states:

1. Rather than being a delicate wooden 'henge', which is extremely delicate, the site sits in a natural hollow to form an ancient amphitheater. That structure is very much intact, and could and should be preserved in situ.

2. The site is comparable to ceremonial enclosures found on the hilltop at Tara and other royal sites in Ireland, but is twice as large as any other.

3. The site is part of a larger complex of monuments associated with Tara, forming a single national monument, with many component parts, all of which are national monuments. The NRA have consistently denied that the site is part of a larger national monument.

FULL REPORT - On the Significance of Lismullin, Dr Ron Hickshttp://tarawatch.org/?p=470

Profile of Dr Ron Hicks http://www.bsu.edu/web/rhicks/research.htm

NRA Report on Lismullin by Mary Deevyhttp://www.meath.ie/LocalAuthorities/Publications/Herit...n.pdf

World Monuments Fund (WMF) http://www.wmf.org

WMF 100 Most Endangered Sites List 2008

http://www.worldmonumentswatch.org/

Flowers' Liamo releases 'Save Tara' song in M-way protest

2007-07-30T18:37:00.001+01:00

UTV Live: Hill of Tara Protest CD launched
Tyrone Times: Maonlai pens protest song
Evening Echo: O Maonlai pens Tara protest song

Flowers' Liamo releases 'Save Tara' song in M-way protest

Irish Independent
Saturday July 28 2007

HOTHOUSE Flowers frontman Liam O Maonlai has released a protest song to rally opposition to the controversial M3 motorway route around the Hill of Tara.

The song, entitled 'Tara's Eye: (Money Mad Mile)' exhorts listeners to "stop the work on the money mad mile". It can be downloaded free from the internet.

O Maonlai, a long-time champion of Irish language and culture, criticises construction clones and politicians, using lyrics penned by Steve Cooney.

The protest ballad was released yesterday at a press briefing by pressure group TaraWatch.

Tarawatch spokesman Vincent Salafia said the song would boost efforts to pressurise Environment Minister John Gormley to re-route the road.

Mr Gormley continues to insist that he has no legal powers to reverse decisions taken by his predecessor Fianna Fail's Dick Roche.

Mr Salafia said Tarawatch campaigners were "humbled by this incredibly inspiring song, by one of Ireland's greatest modern bards". In the song, Mr O Maonlai decries the "cynical, clinical clones of construction" who "seem to think we're some kind of clowns". He also urges campaigners not to back down "against the plan of the damned" behind the road through the historic valley.

There are plans to release higher quality recordings on iTunes to raise money for the campaign.

Tara's Eye (money-mad-mile)
(I was told officially, when I went for tea at the Tara Tea Rooms grand
There was a major excavation, beyond my expectation, so I went with my cap in my hand...
And when I got to that Sacred spot, well, I could only admire the view
High above that money-mad-mile under the Tara sky so blue...)
.
When the earth sheds it's skin, the energy within is unstoppable
reative force
And if you're driving a machine through the Tara-Skryne your race has run its course
We're singin' up the land, not afraid to take a stand to let Creation shine through
High above that money-mad-mile under the Tara sky so blue...
We've all been awoken, the Word has been spoken 'Stop the work on the Money-Mad-Mile'
And people get ready, keep the Spirit steady, we gotta raise the roof up for a while
It's the Spirit of the Land or the Plan of the Damned, and it's a hell of a thing to do
But we're gonna fly high above that money-mad-mile under the Tara sky so blue...
Do you hear the sound through the holy ground where the ancient Fianna sleep?
In their gravelly beds, the Spirits of the dead and the Lia Fáil weep
And wherever we rest, in this world or the next, we will have learnt a thing or two
High above that money-mad-mile under the Tara sky so blue!
The cynical-clinical clones of construction seem to think that we're some kind of clowns
So we've got to pull together through this stormy weather to make those money-mad-men back down
And if they take us all away, we'll have to watch and pray over this wreck of the Ship Of Fools
High above that money-mad-mile, under the Tara sky so blue...
There's a solution to this cultural pollution that's goin' on in Gabhra green
Take the route to the West, the short road is best, no Toll through the Tara-Skryne
Born wild and free, people like me are not gonna see this road go through
And soon we'll being flying high above that money-mad-mile under the Tara sky so blue...
There's no need to panic, we're a natural organic dynamic, rekindling the ancient fire
So politicians rethink, step back from the brink, and listen to the dawn choir
These are timeless rights, so we'll sit here through the nights and we will fight for what is true
High above that money-mad-mile under the Tara sky so blue!
Steve Cooney
4th July '07
Liam Ó Maonlai - vocals, piano
Laoise Kelly - wire harp
Odhrán Ó Casaide - violin, uilleann pipes
Steve Cooney - guitars, bass, percussion, ditjeridú, production
Copyright © Steve Cooney 2007

Sign the Save Tara Petition to Minister Gormley

2007-07-11T01:54:00.000+01:00

09 July 2007: Today TaraWatch launched a new petition, calling on Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, to save the Hill of Tara archaeological complex from the M3 motorway development. The launch took place outside Green Party headquarters in Dublin.

Evening Echo News: Tara campaigners launch M3 petition

Irish Times: Group calls for change to M3 route

Petition to Minister Gormley, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, to Declare the Entire Hill of Tara Archaeological Complex a National Monument and Re-route the M3 Motorway.

THE HILL OF TARA archaeological complex, Ireland's premier national monument and most sacred landscape, is under dire threat from imminent bisection by construction of the M3 motorway.
As Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, you have a constitutional imperative to give the highest level of statutory protection possible to the national monument. That includes all its individual components, many of which lie in the pathway of the M3, and are national monuments in their own right.

You were aware that the Director of the National Museum had stated that the massive enclosure at Baronstown should have been declared a national monument. Yet, it was demolished on your watch, after you ignored calls to place a Temporary Preservation Order on the site.

You have stated that you cannot alter the route of the M3, unless there is a "material change in circumstances", from those considered by Minister Dick Roche, who ordered the demolition of the newly discovered national monument; the Lismullin henge. There have in fact been many material changes, beyond the scope of the Lismullin file, including:

1. The inclusion of the Hill of Tara on the World Monuments Fund's List of 100 Most Endangered Sites is a material change in circumstances that was no considered by Minister Roche.

2. The fact that the EU has stated that the National Development Plan, as well as its M3 project, may be in breach of EU law constitutes a material change in circumstances. A report will issue in September 2007 from the Petitions Committee, and you should use the precautionary principle here, and halt the works in question, to prevent more irreversible damage to the delicate ancient remains.

3. The fact that an underground or 'souterrain' complex in Lismullin has been discovered is a material change in circumstances. It has been described as a "very significant" site by leading expert Professor George Eogan and should be declared a national monument.

4. The fact that you have been put on notice that the legal definition of a national monument is not being applied to these sites, or all monuments in Ireland, is a material change in circumstances. You have been advised by Conor Newman of a systemic flaw in the methodology for classification of national monuments currently being employed by the Chief State Archaeologist.

5. The Stern Report on the Economic Effects of Climate Change is a material change in circumstances that was not considered by Minister Roche, as it should have been. The M3 motorway was planned and approved in 2003, using radically outdated analysis.Due to the above material changes in circumstances you now have the legal power under the National Monuments Act to protect the Tara complex and to re-route the M3 motorway. We demand that you immediately halt all works within the Tara complex and declare the entire complex, as well as all the monuments within it, to be national monuments.Stop the Tara scandal now!
Sincerely,

The Undersigned

PRESS RELEASE

TARAWATCH.org

10 July 2007

'Gormley Must Save Tara' Petition 2nd in Online Ranking After 24 Hours

The petition launched yesterday calling on John Gormley, Minister for
the Environment, to declare the entire Hill of Tara archaeological
complex a national monument and re-route the M3, is the second higest
traffic of any other petition on the main World Wide Web petition site
http://www.petitiononline.com.

TaraWatch is asking all Irish media outlets to treat the petition as a
public service, and supply the public with the internet address, so
they have an opportunity to express their opinion to Minister Gormley.

The petition, was officially launched yesterday outside Green Party
offices in Dublin, where TaraWatch members received a very stropng
response from passing members of the public, collecting over 500
signatures in the first hour.

The petition was also launched online at 1.00am on Monday morning, on
the http://www.tarawatch.org site. Over 1,500 people have already
signed the petition online at
http://www.petitiononline.com/taram3/petition.html

The aim of the petition is to collect as many signatures as possible in
a seven day period, and deliver them to Green Party offices next
Monday.

Recent online polls have on Ireland.com indicated that 82% of
respondents think Tara should be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site
and 74% want the M3 rerouted.

TaraWatch is also organising with campaigners via the Internet to hold
a series of protests at Irish embassies and consulates world wide this
Friday, including the US, Canada, Australia, the UK and other Europeans
countries.

Laura Grealish said:

"The Tara/M3 is a massive issue worldwide and on the Internet, which
many Irish at home are not aware of. The Archaeological Institute of
America is also featuring the story on the cover of their web site,
archaeology.org."

"We would love to the see Irish media give the public an opportunity to
clearly express their views, so we can deliver them to the Minister."

"I think the Minister will be surprised at the passion such a large
number of people have over this issue.

ENDS

http://www.tarawatch.org - info@tarawatch.org

=

RECENT IRELAND.COM POLLS

Do you think the Hill of Tara should be added to Unesco's list of World
Heritage Sites?

82% YES

18% NO

Should the M3 be rerouted away from Tara?

74% YES

26% NO

Hill of Tara conference - Trinity College Dublin - Mon 21 May

2007-05-19T00:05:00.000+01:00

The Hill of Tara

Historical and Cultural Importance

Conference

Trinity College Dublin

Swift Theatre

Monday 21st May 2007 - 11.00 am to 2.00 pm.

Admission free

Hosted by the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, TCD

Speakers to include:

- Dr Sean Duffy - FTCD, Department of Medieval History

- Dr Gerald Morgan - FTCD, School of English

- Mr Vincent Salafia, JD - Department of Law, TCD

www.tarawatch.org info@tarawatch.org 087-132-3365

Take the Tara Protection Pledge

2007-05-15T00:56:00.000+01:00

TaraWatch is launching the Tara Protection Pledge drive. We need to build a rapid reaction force, in the event of works beginning on the national monument. Please fill in the form with your mobile number and email address. They will not be published on the petition page. This petition just displays the number of signatories to the public.

Take the Tara Protection Pledge

To: Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dick Roche. [Petition posted 14 May 2007]

I understand you, Dick Roche, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, will decide the fate of a new national monument, discovered during the course of excavations for the M3 motorway, in County Meath, Ireland.

This national monument is a prehistoric royal ceremonial site, roughly 80 metres in diameter, that is believed by experts to be a part of the Hill of Tara archaeological complex. The Hill of Tara is Ireland's premier national monument, being the site of where 142 kings were crowned, and belongs to all the people of Ireland.

The Minister for the Environment and Heritage has a constitutional imperative; to give the national heritage the highest level of statutory protection possible.

The Minister has the power, under Section 14A(4)(d) of the National Monuments Act 2004, to reroute the M3 away from this national monument and the entire Tara complex.

Recent surveys have shown that 70% of Irish people want the M3 rerouted, and I make my pledge on behalf of that democratic majority.

If you decide to allow the M3 to carry on as planned, and instruct the National Roads Authority to demolish the national monument at Lismullen, I pledge to join TaraWatch and actively demonstrate against this decision in Lismullen, when I am called upon to do so.

The site must be preserved intact until such time as the Minister's decision can be judicially reviewed by the High Court.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

For more information please visit the http://www.tarawatch.org site

Massive Hange Found Beside Hill of Tara

2007-05-01T03:19:00.000+01:00

A massive henge has been discovered in Lismullin, beside Rath Lugh and near the Hill of Tara. The entrance faces the Hill. Reports are still sketchy, and there is 24 hour security on the site.

TaraWatch reported the site to Eamon Kelly, Keeper of Antiquities at the National Museum of Ireland on Monday 30 April.

Under the National Monuments Act 2004, all work is supposed to cease on a national monument when it is discovered in the path of a road, and the Minister is supposed to consult with the Director of the Museum.

We are demanding an immediate cessation of works, and access. We are also retaining a professional archaeologist to generate a report, and are engaged in an urgent fundraising effort to cover the costs. Please see donation information below.

A henge is a prehistoric architectural structure which consists of nearly circular or oval-shaped flat area over 20 metres (65 feet) in diameter that is enclosed and delimited by a boundary earthwork that usually comprises a ditch with an external bank. The earthwork permits access to the interior by one, two, or four entrances. Internal components may include portal settings, timber circles, post rings, stone circles, four-stone settings, monoliths, standing posts, pits, coves, post alignments, stone alignments, burials, central mounds, and stakeholes (English Heritage definition). Because of the defensive impracticalities of an enclosure with an external bank and an internal ditch (rather than vice versa), henges are considered to have served a ritual, rather than a defensive, purpose...

- cont'd on Wikipedia

Saint Patrick’s Day Poetry on Tara

2007-03-09T14:30:00.000+01:00

Saint Patrick’s Day Poetry on Tara

March 17th

event begins at 5 p.m.

You are invited to showcase your talents at the St. Patrick’s Day Festival on the Hill of Tara, in this celebration of the richness of Ireland’s history, artistry, and cultural heritage. Sponsored by the Tara Watch group, this event will bring together a vast array of poets, historians, storytellers, artists and traditional Celtic musicians to share in their gifts, as we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on this historic site.

We are looking for poets who can provide readings, storytellers and historians who can bring to life the mythology of old, and musicians who can add their talents to the festivities. Come celebrate those bardic days of yore with your poems, stories, and songs honoring Tara , Ireland , and its history.

This event begins at 5 pm and is open to the public, free of charge, in order to raise national and international awareness in saving Tara as an important cultural and historic site.

Please contact Vincent Salafia ASAP at info@tarawatch. org or 087-132-3365 if you are interested in participating in this exciting event, as we honor the artistry and history of cultural heritage and strive to preserve the Hill of Tara for generations to come.

Warm Regards,

Heather Adams, Events Planning Coordinator, Tara Watch

Irish Times - Breaking News: Eco-groups protest at talks exclusion

2007-02-16T09:46:00.000+01:00

Photo: Friends of the Earth

Irish Times - Breaking News: Eco-groups protest at talks exclusion

Last Updated: 15/02/2007 06:45

Environmental campaign groups will today protest at Dublin Castle against their exclusion from social partners' discussions. Friends of the Earth and Tarawatch are to picket outside the first plenary meeting of the social partners under Towards 2016, which will be opened by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern this morning.

Friends of the Earth claims the Department of the Taoiseach has twice turned down written requests from environmental organisations to discuss their participation in the talks.

"It's absurd that environmental groups are being locked out of social partnership at a time when climate change and energy sustainability are looming large," said Oisin Coughlan of Friends of the Earth.

"When this government was first elected it promised to put the environment at the heart of public policy.

"Now, with Ireland's climate pollution spiralling out of control, Bertie Ahern is refusing to allow environmental groups take part in Towards 2016 discussions. Meanwhile, scientists are telling us 10 years is all the time we have left to stop climate change running out of control," he said.

The organisation is asking all social partners to support the inclusion of environmental groups in the Partnership process.

Tarawatch, which is campaigning to protect the Hill of Tara from the M3 motorway, is also working with other groups in drafting an EU complaint about the exclusion of community environment groups from Social Partnership.

"This is illegal under the spirit and letter of EU law, as well as the principles of Agenda 21 and sustainable development," added Vincent Salafia of Tarawatch.

“Instead of consultation and negotiation, we have restriction of information and non-participation.

“We are left with little option but to pursue grievances through the courts, such as at Carrickmines and Tara.”

Friends of the Earth said the Social Partnership meeting comes the day before the Environmental Protection Agency is due to release figures showing that Irelands’ greenhouse gas emissions have risen to 25% above 1990 levels, almost twice the rise the Government committed to under the Kyoto Protocol.

Evening Echo News: Green groups protest at talks exclusion

Ireland's emissions

Irish Times Friday, February 16, 2007

The main problem areas: Transport, Energy and Other Sectors

Transport

Emissions from transport continue to be the main source of growth in greenhouse gas levels in Ireland. The latest figures from the Environmental Protection Agency show that emissions from this sector grew by 7 per cent in 2005 to 13.46 million tonnes, and now stand at more than 150 per cent above 1990 levels.

There have been two main causes of this inexorable growth in emissions. The principal cause is the rise in the number of private vehicles on Irish roads. In 2006 alone, the number of cars, vans and trucks in Ireland grew by 7 per cent to just under 2.3 million. The number of new private cars sold in a given year has increased by more than 160 per cent in the last 10 years to 173,000 last year. In addition, the average private car travels more than 16,000km a year in Ireland, significantly above the European average annual distance, thereby producing greater levels of CO2 emissions.

The second critical factor in the growth of transport emissions has been the trend among Irish consumers to buy larger cars which pollute more.

There has been a phenomenal increase in the number of large-engine vehicles such as SUVs, sports cars and high-performance executive saloons.

Energy

Changes in power generation in 2005 were the second significant factor in pushing up greenhouse emissions.

Levels for greenhouse gas emissions from this sector had been temporarily lowered since about 2002 with the temporary closure of two peat power generation plants for refurbishment. The two plants, at Banagher, Co Offaly, and Lanesboro, Co Longford, were closed for major refits, so emissions from the sector were lower than might be expected for much of 2002, 2003 and 2004.

They reopened in late 2004, and 2005 was their first year of full operation. As a result, the emissions from the power generation sector increased from 15.9 million tonnes to 16.4 million tonnes.

According to Sustainable Energy Ireland, there was a significant increase in energy use in Ireland in 2005, and the emissions increases would have been even higher but for a sharp increase in available renewable energy.

The new peat power stations are much more efficient but they produce much higher levels of CO2 for every megawatt of power produced when compared with new gas turbine power facilities. The abandonment of peat-fired stations is not seen as an option by Government because of the jobs involved and the security of supply it gives.

Other sectors

Reductions of emissions in the agriculture sector are the single greatest factor that have prevented greenhouse gas emissions soaring above 70 million tonnes in recent years. The sector, which is the single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions, has seen modest but consistent decreases in emissions throughout the last 10 years.

It now accounts for just over 28 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions produced in Ireland. In 2005 emissions dropped by 1.8 per cent to 19.3 million tonnes.

The two principal sources of emissions in the sector are methane, produced by cattle, and nitrous oxide from fertiliser use.

Recent years have seen a reduction in the national herd size, brought about by agricultural reform at European level, rather than domestic actions. In addition, farming practices have also led to a reduction in fertiliser use, which will continue with the coming into force last year of the EU nitrates directive. There was little change in emissions from the residential sector, which accounts for 10 per cent of emissions, mainly through heating requirements for homes. Industrial process-related emissions have risen, driven mainly by the cement sector.

Protests begin at Hill of Tara

2007-01-01T16:30:00.000+01:00

The following images were taken December 31st, 2006. They show the pathway for the M3 motorway having been cleared through part of the Tara / Skryne Valley, at Rath Lugh. Other wooded areas are still intact, but it is feared works will resume tomorrow, New Years Day. Peaceful demonstrations at the sites will occur daily, beginning Monday morning. For full set of images go to http://www.tarawatch.org

Large trees cleared from the bottom of Rath Lugh, a national monument, and defensive fort to Tara, on the northern slope of Skryne. There is no indcation that the site will be excavated. If it was to be. excavated, then would they not have cleared it a year and a half ago? Also a new area being worked on today, just behind Lismullen. There are still wooded areas remaining between Rath Lugh and Blundelstown, which will be the location of daily demonstrations beginning New Year’s Day.

If you want to assist, please visit the Tara Solidarity Vigil, which is located on the north of the Hill of Tara, past Rath Grainne. Just follow the ditch/ road north, from the parking area, and they are located in the corner. Rope and tarpolin are needed. Call 086-175-8557 or 087-132-3365

Save Tara Campaign is a network consisting of
Save Tara Skryne Valley group, - http://www.savetaravalley.com/
Tara Solidarity Vigil and - http://www.tarasolidarityvigil.net/
TaraWatch http://www.tarawatch.org/

Irish Times: Winter begins slow farewell after long night closes

2006-12-22T12:19:00.000+01:00

Friday, December 22, 2006

A stream of golden sunlight passes through the window box and along the passageway leading into the burial chamber of Newgrange during yesterdays winter Solstice on the shortest day of the year.Photograph: The Irish Independent

No light ever seems as bright or as sudden as that on a Solstice morning. This is the sun that rises after the longest night, writes Eileen Battersby.

Long before daybreak, the signs were good. The heavens were casting off the Dickensian fog that had shrouded the Boyne Valley, and many other areas, during a 48-hour spell of damp, murky weather that made one suspect that time might be better spent re-reading Bleak House than waiting for the sun.
As the Newgrange watchers and Save Tara protesters gathered at the Stone Age monument, one of the finest passage tombs in Western Europe, knowing smiles set the tone.
After two dull mornings in which the Boyne itself had been invisible, the optimists had been rewarded.
A formidable trio consisting of nature, the ancients and global warming had decided on an impressive Christmas present - a golden sunrise.
Night suddenly became day and the monument and its resident battalion of sentry-like standing stones emerged from the purple darkness.
The air was cold but dry, perfect. Early arrivals noted the appearance of a handsome black Labrador. Too busy to notice the lone rabbit that froze statue-like before darting into a nearby hedge, Nick seemed businesslike, deliberate, impressively self-possessed. Two years of age, he is an experienced sniffer dog - his brief to check out the monument. Down the passageway he went, indifferent to the archaeology but intent on his task.
On leaving the monument, he walked down the hill, his Garda handler at his side and settled down with a sigh. Sharing the back of the van was his good-looking sidekick, Hesky, a German Shepherd, eager if far less a specialist.
“He does patrol work,” said his handler. Nick sighed again. Trained by the British Metropolitan police, he is an ambitious character who needs a challenge.
The chosen few, those who had won Solstice tickets as well as the usual Government Ministers filed by on their way into the mound. The rest of us waited, aware the show had already begun. Beneath a brightening sky, the warm pink turned to yellow as a blister of orange on the horizon began to take shape. The tree-lined ridge across the valley seemed to shimmer. By 8.45am, the sun was poised to break free. No light ever seems as bright or as sudden as that on a Solstice morning. This is the sun that rises after the longest night.
A woman wearing a pair of balloons, began to sway and wave her arms at the sun. “Is she trying to levitate?” asked an onlooker. “I hope not,” answered his companion, “but that one over there might set herself alight.” Oblivious to those of us watching the sun, stood a forlorn acrobat with a hoola hoop.
A number of cups attached to it were blazing. Meanwhile by 8.51am, on cue, the sun was displaying an emphatic sense of purpose, and had broken free of the horizon. Within five minutes, it was well clear of the ridge and was casting a bright light over the valley. The river, which had been a swollen torrent, for day had become a silver ribbon.
Faces turned away from the sky to the quartz-faced monument. A great beam of yellow was pouring through the roof box. Cameras were held aloft as were mobile phones - all recording the moment. The light began to withdraw, its mission completed. Suddenly the party which had been inside the chamber, made its way out. As the first figures descended the steps, the sun moved behind the clouds. Nature and ancient man had said enough, winter had symbolically begun its slow farewell.

Take the Climate Change Challenge and Save Tara!

2006-11-20T11:50:00.000+01:00

The Climate Change Challenge - Conference and Survey

20 November 2006

Dear Sir/Madam,

You are invited participate in the Climate Change Challenge. This is a cross-party and inter-NGO initiative being taken in the wake of the recent EU and UK findings on the economics and climate change, the recent UN conference on climate change, and the release of the Irish Government Estimates in November 2006. It consists of three elements:

[1.] A conference focusing on climate change, transport and environment which will take place in Dublin on Saturday, 25th of November at 12.00pm. It will feature academic presentations, as well as debate from members of political parties. The conference will be held at the Royal Society of Antiquaries, 63 Merrion Square, Dublin 2. Admission is free and open to the public.

[2.] A survey, consisting of 10 yes or no questions, is being sent to all political parties, Oireachtas members and Meath County Councillors, on Monday 20th November. The survey questions involve a re-evaluation of Irish Government spending on capital infrastructure projects, which are part of Transport 21 and the National Development Plan 2006. Results of the survey will be released and discussed at the conference on the 25th.

[3.] Organisers of the Climate Change Challenge will attend the talk being given by Fred Barry, CEO of the National Roads Authority, entitled "Delivering the National Roads Network - Value for Money?" at Engineers Ireland, 22 Clyde Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin on Tuesday, 21st November 2006, 18.30. Survey questions will be put to Fred Barry after his presentation.

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[1.] CLIMATE CHANGE, TRANSPORT AND ENVIRONMENT CONFERENCE
A Climate Change Challenge conference will be held at the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 63 Merrion Square, Dublin 2 on Saturday 25th November at 12.00pm.
Dr. Liam Leonard, of the Department of Politics and Sociology, NUI Galway, will deliver a paper entitled ‘The Politics of Climate Change and Heritage‘. A presentation will also be given by TaraWatch on the economics of transport. in Ireland, as well as the M3. Other guest speakers have yet to be confirmed. Dr. Leonard is author of Green Ireland; The Irish Environmental Movement From Carnsore Point to the Rossport 5 (Greenhouse Press, 2006).
All major political parties have been invited, and the following have agreed to participate:
- Sean Crowe TD, & Joe Reilly, Meath County Council, (Sinn Fein)
- Green Party spokesperson on Transport or Environment
- Cllr. Eugene Regan Cathaoirleach of Dun Laoghaire County Council and
Dail Candidate (Fine Gael)
- Martin Hogan - National University of Ireland Senate candidate
(Independent)

===

[2.] CLIMATE CHANGE CHALLENGE SURVEY

A survey of 10 questions, also entitled The Climate Change Challenge, is being sent on Monday 20th November to all political parties, Oireachtas members, as well as members of Meath County Council and the National Roads Authority. The results will be published and discussed at the conference on the 25th November. The questions are as follows:

1. Do you agree with the basic premise of the October 2006 Stern Review of the Economics of Climate Change, which warns of catastrophic costs for the world economy if industrialized countries fail to take immediate action to stop global warming?

2. Do you agree with 66% of respondents to The Irish Times survey (Nov 18, 2006) that the UN Climate Change has not done enough to help prevent global warming?*

3. Do agree that the European Union is falling woefully short of its targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and will need to take radical measures to achieve them, particularly in Transport which accounts for 22 per cent of EU emissions?

4. Do you agree with the finding of EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, (corroborated by the 2006 findings of Germanwatch which placed Ireland 33rd out of 55 nations on the climate change index) that unless Ireland takes radical action, we will fail to meet our national emission limits, which are binding under EU law?

5. Do you agree that in light of the new data of the enormously detrimental effects of transport on climate change and the economy that a new cost benefit analysis of Transport 21 (which will cost approximately €30-40 billion) should take place?

6. Do you agree with Danny McCoy, Director of Policy with Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC), who said that “Prior assessment of capital investment projects is inadequate. Detailed cost benefit analyses must be an essential component of projects in the upcoming National Development Plan (which is set to cost €70 billion)?” [‘Improving the Efficiency of Public Spending’ Opinion -The Irish Times, 16-11-06]

7. Do you agree with Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dick Roche “taxing vehicles on the basis of the emissions” should begin in order to reduce carbon emissions and pay Kyoto fines or would you recommend that the Government follow the UK lead and bring in legislation to limit traffic congestion and set up a Climate Change committee that sets carbon targets and can enforce limits on emissions? [Irish Examiner 31-10-06]

8. Do you agree that the private multi-national companies, currently building and operating tolled motorways in Ireland, should pay taxes on the basis of carbon emissions produced by their operations, and should be prevented from passing these penalties onto the motorist through increased toll charges?

9. Do you agree with the Economic and Social Research Institute that investment in transport should remain a priority, but current targeted spending found in the Estimates should be reduced to €3.4 billion from €4 billion and in order to avoid having to raise taxes to pay for it?

10. Do you agree that public money should not be allocated to the M3 until a new cost/benefit analysis occurs, because the current one is very outdated in that:
(a) The current estimated cost of €600 million is based on year 2000 prices,
(b) It does not take the new climate change data into account,
(c) It does not factor in 3 other motorways running in close proximity (M1, M2, and M4),
(d) It does not factor in the Dublin to Navan railway being opened, and
(e) It does not take into account the fact that tolls be paid by citizens for 40 years and the profits will go out of the economy to Spanish multi-national investors.

Elaborate. Please feel free to give more than yes or no answers and also to add any other concrete immediate steps that you would make to reduce climate change due to carbon emissions, particularly those caused by transport.

===

* Irish Times online poll - Has the UN Climate Change conference done enough to help prevent global warming? 18-11-06 http://www.ireland.com]
33% YES
67% NO

===

[3.] NRA PRESENTATION

Roads & Transportation Society Presents and Evening Lecture:
- "Delivering the National Roads Network - Value for Money?"
Presented by Fred Barry, CEO, National Roads Authority
Tuesday, 21st November 2006, 18.30
Engineers Ireland, 22 Clyde Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin
Fred Barry, Chartered Engineer and Chief Executive Officer of the National Roads Authority will address the issue of Value for Money in relation to the national roads development programme.
The key issues being discussed will include:
- Cost/benefit analysis on the national roads network
- The comparisons between Irish and other European countries captial
costs
- The cost trends in Ireland and
- The industry capacity to deliver without sparking cost inflation.
Organisers of the Climate Change Survey will be present at the talk and verbally put some of the survey questions to Fred Barry. Mr Barry will be sent a copy of the survey in advance of the event.

===

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

The Climate Change Challenge is being jointly organised by Save Tara Valley group, Tara Vigil and TaraWatch, and the conference is being kindly hosted by the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland.
Kind regards,
Save Tara Valley - http://www.savetaravalley.com 087-6595-056 heather@savetaravalley.com
Tara Vigil - http://www.tarasolidarityvigil.net 086-1758-557 contact@tarasolidarityvigil.net
TaraWatch - http://www.tarawatch.org 087-132-3365 - info@tarawatch.org
Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland - http://www.rsai.ie (01) 676-1749 rsai@rsai.ie

Tara of the Kings Weekly Lecture Series Continues

2006-10-30T14:16:00.000+01:00

Sat, Nov. 4th 2006

'The Kingship of Tara: The Views of the Four Masters'

- Dr Joseph Flahive, Dept. of Old and Modern Irish, UCC

TARA OF THE KINGS - Weekly Lecture Series

ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND (RSAI)

TaraWatch presents a free lecture series by internationally renowned scholars who are opposed to the routing of the M3 motorway. They will present cutting-edge research into history, literature, archaeology, geography and law relating to Tara, every Saturday at the Royal Society of Antiquaries (RSAI)

This Saturday, 4th November, at noon, the public are invited to attend a free lecture entitled, 'The Kingship of Tara: The Views of the Four Masters' by Dr Joseph Flahive, Dept. of Old and Modern Irish, University College Cork.

Dr. Flahive shall be looking at the manner in which earlier text was used by the Four Masters for the ideological end of driving home the point that Ireland is and always was a kingdom with a national monarchy. Tara finds itself torn in their views between being the seat of that kingship, but also a sign of its pre-Christian origins, destroyed by the purification of that monarchy. The views of the Four Masters, along with those of Keating, stand at the core of the romanticist idea of the High Kingship that dominated until quite recently.

Sat, 11th November

"Tara and the rebellion of 1641"

- Dr. Tadhg Ó hAnnracháin, School of History and Archives, University College Dublin.

The Tara of the Kings free lecture series is proudly presented by TaraWatch, who are campaigning for the preservation of the Hill of Tara archaeological complex.

The proceedings of the series will be edited by Professor Paul Muldoon, of Princeton University. Professor Muldoon, who won the Pulitzer Prize, is vehemently opposed to the M3 route through Tara. He has been described by The Times Literary Supplement as "the most significant English-language poet born since the second World War." The series takes its name from his poem, entitled Tara of the Kings.

The Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland was founded in 1849 in Kilkenny 'to preserve, examine and illustrate all ancient monuments and memorials of the arts, manners and customs of the past, as connected with the antiquities, language, literature and history of Ireland.'Mrs. Aideen Ireland, President of RSAI said:

"Over one hundred years ago this Society campaigned vigorously to have ill considered excavations by the British-Israelites on the Hill of Tara stopped. On that occasion the excavations ceased and the site was preserved. It would be a scandal if Tara, saved on that occasion, were now to be sacrificed in the interests of short-term progress."

12.00pm EVERY SATURDAY

Helen Roe Lecture Theatre

63 Merrion Square - Admission Free

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