Protesters against Bulldozers

Since Sunday, May 20, protesters are blocking the use of heavy construction machinery at ancient archaeological sites in the Tara-Skryne valley. Construction workers are trying to begin work on the four-lane motorway, although no public decision has yet been given by the Minister for Heritage Dick Roche to commence work. Reports state that the peaceful protesters who sat down in front of the machinery, were in some cases badly manhandled by the construction workers. If the protesters do not succeed in preventing the construction work from beginning, the archaeological sites will be quickly destroyed and the destruction presented to the public as a fait accompli.

The protesters at the moment are small in number and are made up of the Vigil Keepers, who have been keeping watch on Tara for some time, local people, and general members of the public.

To put it bluntly, if the protesters do not receive enough on site support, the construction company will be able to move the heavy machinery in, and in no time at all, Tara, ancient as it is, will be lost!

The protesters are calling for support.

Dr. Muireann Ni Bhrolchain of the Save Tara Campaign in Ireland wrote -

"It is quite amazing how one person, two people at a gate can stop them.
This is the power of one, two, three ... but we need you all now. If you
care about Tara - now is the time to act."

Will European-Union Funding be used in Ireland to destroy European heritage?

A 3000 year old, 1.6 hectare, pagan ceremonial site has recently been discovered at Tara in Ireland, directly in the path of construction for a four-lane motorway. The find is circular in shape and originally made of wood, thus giving it the name ‘Wood Henge’, in reference to the similarly shaped Stone Henge in England. It was immediately awarded the status by Irish archaeologists of National Monument, and recognised as being of major significance.

Tara is where the ancient Kings and Queens of Ireland ruled, and it is thought that the new discovery was used as a place for royal ceremonies and religious worship. However, the site may soon be destroyed and covered over in cement.

The Irish Minister for Heritage and Environment, Dick Roche, may give the order for the site to merely be photographed and noted down by archaeologists, so that the bulldozers can quickly move in, plough through it, and get on with building the motorway. Protest groups in Ireland are calling on the Irish government to re-route the motorway away from this culturally important area. So far the Minister has not made his plans public, but given a number of his past decisions, many environmentalists fear the worst.

Europe has an important role to play in this battle for heritage. The motorway in question, the M3, is partly financed by European Structural Funds. It is a condition of the EU structural grants that the Member States who receive them must ensure that important archaeological finds are properly protected. Irish heritage after all is part of European heritage. This issue was raised in the European Parliament on 9 May by Irish MEP Proinsias De Rossa who called on European Commissioner Dimas to intervene directly with the Irish government and ensure that EU structural funds will not be misused to destroy our common European heritage. The British MEP Roger Helmer also tabled a question to the European Parliament on 10 May asking the Commission were they aware that the Irish government were planning to build a motorway through important archaeological sites.

Latest Tara news

A national monument has been discovered directly in the path of the M3 motorway in the grounds of Tara, it 's an ancient henge, said to be the si ze of three football fields.

It is vital now to help if you can, there is a general election in Ireland called for May 24, and a number of the opposition parties have pledged, should they come to power, to reroute the motorway away from the Tara landscape.

The plight of Tara needs to be kept in the foreground, and urgently so, as construction of the motorway will soon begin. It is also feared that the Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, will give permission for this new archaeological find at Tara to be 'preserved by record' - which means just noted down, and then physically destroyed, letting the bulldozers for the motorway plough through it.

The issue is receiving international coverage – please keep the momentum going by writing letters to the Irish papers, no matter where you're located in the world, voicing your concern at the destruction of the ancient Tara landscape. This is not against a motorway for the area, other feasible motorway routes have always been available right from the beginning and still are. The motorway can still be re-routed and the ancient grounds of Tara preserved.

A list of the ‘Letters to the Editor' email addresses for the main Irish newspapers is given below. Please take the time to write a letter and to assist Tara now, this may well be the last chance to alter the plans for the motorway through the heart of the priceless Tara landscape.

lettersed@irish-times.ie The Irish Times
ken@meath-chronicle.ie (Editor, The Meath Chronicle, the local county paper for the area of Tara).
letters@examiner.ie The Examiner
letters@unison.independent.ie The Irish Independent
editorial@tribune.ie The Sunday Tribune
sunday.letters@unison.independent.ie The Sunday Independent

If you need further background information read through our www.protect-tara.org website, or go to www.savetara.com