- in tense stand-off
By - Shane Hickey and Tim Healy.
THERE was an angry stand-off at the site of the new M3 motorway yesterday with a protester chaining herself into a tunnel close to the works.
Demonstrators near the Rath Lugh national monument were served with notice to move from the site yesterday morning, prompting them to chain their bodies to rigid objects.
And in the High Court, a bid to halt work on the motorway failed. The application was for an injunction to stop the work and claimed that a national monument on the site was in danger of being damaged because of the building work - a claim denied by the National Roads Authority (NRA) which said any delay in the project would cost the taxpayer €330,000 per week.
The monument is located about 2.3 miles north-east of the Hill of Tara and divided from the hill by the existing N3 road.
Lisa "Squeek" Feeney from Dublin chained herself to a jack at the bottom of a tunnel which has been dug some 20m deep at the side of the site.
Her colleagues from the Direct Action group, the main protest body, said any attempt to move her would result in the collapse of the tunnel and endanger her life. There were a number of people arrested for public order offences during angry scenes at the monument yesterday as motorway workers moved to progress construction.
Following the move of gardaí and construction workers up the side of the hill, five other protesters chained themselves to rigid objects around the area, refusing to move.
Ms. Feeney and her boyfriend Paddy O'Kearney, also from Dublin, had been staying at the entrance to the tunnel, which was stocked with enough food for a month, according to Direct Action.
Protester Debbie Reilly said Ms. Feeney was carrying out the action to illustrate how unstable the area around the monument and the threat of damage to it by the movement of construction equipment.
Mr. O'Kearney said a walkie-talkie system had been set up to communicate with his girlfriend and a wind generator was supplying air into the tunnel while she had some 40 gallons of water to sustain her in the 4ft. - wide space.
A lull in the stand-off was struck in the mid-afternoon and a commitment was given to the protesters that work would not continue while the young woman was in the tunnel.
Risk
One of the demonstrators at the site said Ms. Feeney was "an inspiration" and that she had taken her actions "calmly".
A spokesman for the National Roads Authority (NRA) said the protesters were continuing to put their lives at risk.
"There was a notification from the contractor, Meath county council and the gardaí to the protesters to evict the site that they were in because work needed to commence in the area, and we didn't want them to be put in harm's way so we asked them to pack up their things", said the spokesman.
"They would not move and they were not going to move, then they were jumping on equipment, running around and interfering with equipment so it escalated exponentially".
In the High Court, Ms. Justice Mary Laffoy dismissed the application for an injunction from building surveyor Peadar O'Ceallaigh, Wolfe Tone Close, Jervis Street, Dublin, who claimed the woman in the tunnel underneath the road route was in danger from the impact of heavy diggers passing over it.
He claimed attempts by the road workers, gardaí and fire brigade to remove the girl had failed.
Mr. O'Ceallaigh claimed that a preservation order on Rath Lugh, signed last month by Environment Minister John Gormley, was under threat because of the building work.
He told the court he had carried his own survey and said damage has already been caused.
It was, he said, one of the most important archeological sites in Europe and needed to be properly investigated before any more work takes place.
The NRA, the Minister for the Environment and the Attorney General opposed the injunction.
© The Irish Independent, 14th. March 2008.
Related Articles:
High Court rejects bid to halt work on M3 motorway.
Green Party accused of U-turn in debate over M3 motorway works.
Protester sustained by peas and Pearse.
Tunnel protest fails to stop M3 work.
NRA denies undermining Rath Lugh monument.
Tara protesters in for long haul.
Minister places Permanent Order on Rath Lugh. Statement, DoEH&LG.
M3 Protesters warn Gardaí: Tunnel "Will collapse". Statement, STC.
M3 motorway protesters claim to have entered tunnel under road.
21st. century souterrain. Statement. Rath Lugh Direct Action Camp.