Turning Green

In a recent general election in Ireland no party won an outright majority, and therefore in the last weeks, coalition negotiations have been taking place to form a government between the pro-motorway biggest party, Fianna Fail, and the small Green Party. The Green party has always been an absolute supporter of Tara, insisting that the M3 motorway should be re-routed away from the Tara valley. They have raised the issue again and again with great integrity, they have consistently shown themselves to be a party with a political conscience. Officials from the party even stood at Tara in solidarity with the protesters, blocking the path of motorway construction machinery.
And then they got the chance of power.
They have now abandoned Tara, along with many other of their pre-election promises. And what they’ve gained in return are two places in a pro-motorway government.

Among the artifacts found at the recently discovered 'woodhenge' archaeological site at Tara, directly in the path of the M3 motorway, is a ring-headed pin (inset) dating to Ireland's Iron Age about 2,000 years ago.
Photo taken from website of Nationalgeographic.com
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070515-ireland-tara.html

Contemplating The Next Turn On The Road To Nowhere

Excerpt taken from Sunday Tribune article Sunday 27 May 2007
By Diarmuid Doyle

The argument for the motorway is that the delays for commuters to Dublin are now so huge that "something must be done". I always cringe when I hear the phrase "something must be done" because what it often means in practise is that the 'something' is done in the most thoughtless and
hamfisted way possible. So it has proved with the proposed M3. Listeners around the country who heard that it took Mary O'Neill two hours to commute to work might conclude, as many have done, that people's desire to get to and from work trumps the importance of the heritage and history of Tara. This lack of respect for our history has been best expressed in the last few years by former Fianna Fail election candidate Tommy Reilly, who described artefacts found near the Hill Of Tara in 2004 as "some old pots and pans" and by Fianna Fail minister Noel Dempsey, who referred to a recent important discovery of an ancient henge there as a "hole in the ground". Happily, not everybody is as ignorant as Noel Dempsey, so work on the section where the henge was found has been stopped while, heaven help us, the environment minister Dick Roche (or his successor) decides what to do next.
There is an argument that the M3 is one of the greatest con-jobs ever perpetrated on the people of Ireland and that it simply isn't necessary; not, at least, on the scale and at the cost proposed. The really significant detail of Mary O'Neill's Newstalk journey was that the worst delays and jams she encountered were in Blanchardstown. That is my experience, too, of the journey to Dublin. With one exception, the major delays are in Dublin, well away from where the M3 will be built. That one exception is Fairyhouse, where huge delays since Christmas have been caused by the building of the M3 motorway. Alanis Morissette would call that ironic, don't you think? The return journey presents different problems, most of them in Dublin, although getting through Dunshaughlin, Navan and Kells can be extremely difficult. In those cases, the problem could be solved with proper
bypasses, but the government and the National Roads Authority have decided that a massive four-lane tolled motorway is what's needed. In case you were thinking that this will transform the lives of commuters, consider the following: the new motorway will knock just 1,800 seconds off the journey from Dubin to Cavan, and will involve two tolls.
However, the decision to build the motorway is final. The only question now is whether it can be rerouted away from Tara and towards, for example, a route east of Skryne village which was nominated by a 2001 report (commissioned by the NRA) as the best in terms of archaeology,
built heritage, flora, fauna and habitats, landscape, visual effects, air quality and noise levels. The route which was chosen was not regarded as best under any heading. Why it should have been chosen, and why so many Fianna Fail politicians are so adamant that it should not be changed, is perhaps one of the great untold stories of the last few years. What is known, and can be told, is the number of Fianna Fail supporters who own land in the Tara Skryne Valley, and who stand to benefit from the arrival of the motorway and the subsequent development around it. These include the aforementioned Tommy "Pots and Pans" Reilly, who bought land in the area some years ago with Frank Dunlop and was unable to satisfy even Fianna Fail that the deal was fully above board. He lost his chance to run in the 2005 by-election as a result. There are others, who were desperately
hoping for a PD/Fianna Fail victory last week. Any other combination in government means that the M3 could be rerouted. One thing's for certain, however. A decision will have to be made very soon.