Please sign the new UN MUST SAVE TARA PETITION

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]

TaraWatch Looks Across the Atlantic for Support

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.

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

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

NEW SAVE TARA PETITION WEB SITE www.savetarapetition.net

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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