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

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.

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

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

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!

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

HARPERS OF IRELAND TO GATHER AT DÁIL TO SAVE TARA

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

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

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