Launch of GORMLEY MUST GO! Campaign Tomorrow at Custom House

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

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Minister Gormley heckled about Tara during Newgrange Winter Solstice ceremony

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

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