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Tara - HENGE AT Lismullen Update

• Message 1. 

  Posted by tarawatch (U7031924) on Wednesday, 16th May 2007

  A massive prehistoric 'henge' site has been discovered in Lismullen, beside the Hill of Tara. The circular enclosure is over the size of 3 football fields, and is without doubt a national monument because of the rarity of henges in Ireland, as well as its importance to the Hill of Tara archaeological complex.
  
  The discovery last month was kept a secret by the authorities, and it is understood that the National Roads Authority (NRA) has heavily pressurised the archaeologists (Archaeological Consultancy Services (ACS) to rush to complete excavations, so the site can be demolished. Large numbers of archaeologists have been paid overtime to complete the work, and the site is under 24 hour security.
  
  TaraWatch has written solicitors' letters to the Minister for the Envrionment, Minister for Transport Meath County Council and the National Roads Authority and demanded that all works on the site cease immediately, as is required by section 14 A of the National Monuments Act, 2004, which states:
  
  (4) Where a national monument has been discovered…then —
  
  (a) the road authority carrying out the road development shall report the discovery to the Minister,
  
  (b) … no works which would interfere with the monument shall be carried out, except works urgently required to secure its preservation carried out in accordance with such measures as may be specified by the Minister,
  
  The Minister, **, is then required to consult with the Director of the National Museum, P. This has not occured and the Museum is currently investigating the site.
  
  In this case, instead of stopping work on the site and consulting with the Minister, the NRA have accelerated works and will destroy this national monument.
  
  Therefore, it is legally incumbent on the Minister to halt works, place a Preservation Order on the site, and reroute the M3 motorway like he did in Waterford in 2005 when he rerouted the N25 to avoid a large Viking site in Woodstown.
  
  Tarawatch have said>>
  
  "This site is a show-stopper and is without doubt a national monument of world significance according to our experts. It would be a sin to demolish it.
  
  "Legal and expert advice is being taken, with a view to seeking an Interlocutory Injunction in order to secure the site before it can be demolished.
  
  "M**** drafted this legislation. Now he and Minister are legally bound to enforce it.
  
  Tarawatch

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by generallobus (U1869191) on Thursday, 17th May 2007

  Fingers crossed it will be saved. Too much of our history has been rubbed out by short sighted politicians. If there are any petitions going I'd be grateful for the details.
  Good luck.
  L

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• Message 3

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by Andrew Host (U1683626) on Thursday, 17th May 2007

  Hello Tarawatch,
  
  Previous threads were closed because of suspected lobbying of the Ö÷²¥´óÐã boards. A number of new accounts were created at the same time specifically to raise the profile of this issue - which led to concerns about troll activity. I am happy to let ONE thread sit on the History boards here in A&A regarding this recent find. However please do not make repeated calls to action for signing petitions, open multiple threads or repeatedly nudge the thread up.
  
  
  Cheers
  
  
  Andrew

  Link to this forum: Tara - HENGE AT Lismullen Update

• Message 4

  , in reply to message 3.

  Posted by RainbowFfolly (U3345048) on Friday, 8th June 2007

  From Tarawatch, but posted on the wrong thread!
  
  hi all just to let you all know that Tara has been selected for the list of the 100 most endangered sites in the world by the WMF.
  I will be going tomorrow along with others from the campaign to a press release in London.
  This is a great step in trying to Save Tara but there is still a lot to do.
  
  thanks
  
  ³Ù²¹°ù²¹·É²¹³Ù³¦³ó.Ìý
  
  Cheers,
  
  
  RF

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• Message 5

  , in reply to message 4.

  Posted by tarawatch (U7031924) on Thursday, 14th June 2007

  Dick Roche approves resumption of work at Tara
  
  Tarawatch has learned that the outgoing Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, has signed an order that will lead to a resumption of work on the M3 near Tara.
  
  Mr Roche has decided that the new National Monument found at Lismullen should be preserved 'by record', in other words, studied in detail and then the motorway will be built as scheduled.
  
  The order comes under the remit of the Minister for the Environment and does not require Cabinet approval.
  
  AdvertisementIt will be the first controversy to hit the new Government, as the Green Party has long held that the route of the M3 is wrong.
  
  John Gormley of the Green Party has this evening been announced as the new Minister for the Environment.
  
  Vincent Salafia of TaraWatch said the group is appalled at the decision about the motorway, particularly given a new more environment friendly government is to take power.
  
  He said he thought there would, at the very least, have been a re-assessment of the project before any decision was taken.
  
  Mr Salafia said it was now certain that legal action would be taken against the project, which the new Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, would have to defend.
  
  
  tarawatch

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• Message 6

  , in reply to message 5.

  Posted by an ex-nordmann - it has ceased to exist (U3472955) on Thursday, 14th June 2007

  Hi tarawatch, can I make a suggestion?
  
  As an Irish person who was amongst the few hundred thousand who marched to preserve Wood Quay but failed to prevent the development going ahead (and subsequently Ireland, and the world, losing the largest excavated Viking town outside of Scandinavia) I can only sympathise with your plight. It is bad enough that history is repeating itself (an ironic expression used here, I know) but that yet again a symbol of a heritage that transcends the notion of politics, let alone the political state of Ireland, is being wantonly destroyed for all time - and for no good reason, the only demonstrable advantage being to those who stand to financially benefit from the construction project in question.
  
  Visitors to Dublin over the last 25 years, once informed of what transpired at Wood Quay, are invariably aghast (especially when they see the concrete mess that replaced it) that a European capital, and especially the capital of a country for whom heritage ostensibly means so much, could even have countenanced such vandalism against itself, and pragmatically, how it so stupidly could have passed up on possessing a cultural pearl that would in its own right have generated revenues (if mammon alone is justification for anything). Here in Norway, where I now live, the stupefaction is understandably all the greater.
  
  But 25 years ago we who tried to save Wood Quay were fighting a battle that, outside of academia, was not deemed of interest to the outside world, and even in Ireland we found it hard to convince non-Dubliners of the crime against them that was happening, and which was being perpetrated by those who claimed to represent them. Much has changed since then, and the medium we are now communicating through is one of the most significant of those changes. What we could have done with internet access if it had existed then!
  
  One thing we would not have done is cut'n'paste press releases on message boards however. Don't get me wrong - I find their content interesting, and share your sentiments completely. But I do know about engaging interest and support, and believe me, that is not a recommended method at all! Words composed for an Irish audience mean a lot less when addressed to an audience who couldn't give a monkey's about whether a Roche or a cockroach was the outgoing minister for the environment, or whether Gormley might (god forbid!) prove as gormless as his name suggests. This is not how you phrase things in the wider world, at least not if you want an audience.
  
  So a word of advice, as I said. Welcome to the Ö÷²¥´óÐã history board, and (may I presumptuously add) a plethora of people potentially open and amenable to your point of view. But the most of us are reasonably intelligent people. We know the difference between being spoken to and being pasted to, and believe me - we prefer the former. If you're here to publicise your very worthy cause I would suggest that you pay heed to Aristotle when he said "Character may almost be called the most effective means of persuasion" - and acquire one.

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• Message 7

  , in reply to message 6.

  Posted by gerda (U8464279) on Tuesday, 19th June 2007

  Tue, 19 Jun 2007 11:48 GMT, in reply to nordmann in message 6
  
  how about links? i was looking for pics of the digs and found this:
  
  
  
  but that's about it...
  
  

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• Message 8

  , in reply to message 7.

  This posting has been hidden during moderation because it broke the in some way.

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