Tara protester emerges
- from her underground "mole" hole
By - Ali Bracken at Rath Lugh.
Lisa "Squeak" Feeney emerged late last night from the
underground tunnel near the Hill of Tara where she has
been since Thursday protesting that the construction of
the M3 motorway running so close to the ancient Rath Lugh
fort.
Feeney was said to be physically well "and in good
spirits" after her three day protest, fellow protester
Derek Berrill told the Sunday Tribune last night.
Berrill claimed an agreement had been reached with the
construction company SIAC and the NRA that any
construction near the Rath Lugh promontory fort would be
postponed until April 14th. However it was not possible
to contact the NRA to confirm whether any such deal had
been reached with the protesters.
The core group of protesters have been camped for months
near the Hill of Tara objecting to the construction of
the motorway so close to the ancient Rath Lugh fort. They
are also angry that the new road will cut through an area
that contains scores of significant heritage sites dating
back 2000 years and more.
Feeney had said earlier in the week that she was
determined to maintain her protest until a decision was
made to move the road. According to fellow protester
Paddy Kearney she had enough food and water for two
months as well having plenty of chocolate and
whiskey.
Protesters tried to lower a laptop down to her so that
she could keep a blog about her protest.
But there were also concerns for her safety as heavy rain
over the last few days could have entered the tunnel.
Last Thursday the civil defence was called in to erect a
tent over the base of the tunnel to ensure that Feeney's
air supply was not cut off by the rain.
Berrill said that negotiations had been ongoing with
Feeney for much of yesterday before she decided to call
off her protest. Berrill said that Feeney had said that
she realised her parents were very upset and that she had
ended her protest "for their sake". Feeney's boyfriend
effectively acted as mediator between Feeney and the
construction company SIAC and the NRA.
Underhand tactics had been underway to snatch Feeney from
her subterranean tunnel on Friday evening, say her
supporters. "The construction company SIAC Ferrovial and
the NRA were talking to Lisa on the walkie-talkies
telling her they would move the road 20 metres to the
right. Our tunnel liaison team said they would pass these
plans down to Lisa to look at but they insisted Lisa come
to the top of the tunnel to be handed them", protestor
Derek Berrill told the Sunday Tribune.
"But we smelt a rat and Lisa refused to come up. Their
intention was to grab her out at the base of the tent but
we can't be fooled that easily. They are obviously
prepared to use every tactic in the book", he
claimed.
At the site on Friday, Phillip Cantwell, an independent
councillor with Trim urban council, called on environment
minister John Gormley to "come and see for himself" that
the M3 motorway is being built within the preservation
area of the Rath Lugh national monument. "I don't agree
with what she's doing, but I understand it", he
added.
© The Sunday Tribune, 16th. March 2008.
Related Articles:
Protesters
vow to step up M3 campaign after deal struck.
Trouble and Squeak.
Squeak calls off her Tara protest.
Squeak surfaces after dad's plea.
Oh, that there had been a Squeak from Greens on
Tara.
Squeak
gets a dig-out...thanks to Bertie.
Squeak
out of her hole.
Activists call on Minister to visit Tara.
