Protester wins reprieve
- on work at M3 site
By - Adam Harvey in Rath Lugh.
THE M3 protester who emerged from the tunnel at Rath
Lugh, near Tara, at the weekend, says she had a "whale of
time" underground and was pleased to have won a
month-long moratorium on work at the site.
Work will not begin again at Rath Lugh until April 17th,
said protester Lisa Feeney, giving M3 opponents enough
time to mount further legal challenges to this
contentious section of the road which they say is too
close to important heritage sites.
"There is a Supreme Court challenge in three weeks, so
that will give us enough time to prepare for that", said
Ms. Feeney.
She said last night that her 60 hours spent underground
was a "whale of a time. It was quite comforting to be in
the womb of Mother Earth, I could hear a lot of what was
going on, the yells and cheers of the crowd".
But Ms. Feeney believes that inappropriate pressure was
placed on her via her father and uncle who were allowed
on site to try and talk her out.
"It was emotional manipulation", she said. "My uncle was
told continually that I was going to die. I think it's a
violation of my human rights".
Ms. Feeney entered the tunnel dug into a hill in the path
of the motorway at Rath Lugh at about 7am on Thursday and
came out at about 9pm on Saturday, about 60 hours
later.
Paddy O'Kearney, a friend of Ms. Feeney who talked to her
via two-way radio throughout her three-day protest, said:
"The situation could have been dealt with in a much
better way. There was immense psychological pressure on
her from her father and uncle".
Mr. O'Kearney described the conduct of the motorway
builders as "torture - worse than if they had pulled her
fingernails out".
Mr. O'Kearney said that construction officials told her
family that their daughter's life was at risk. Ms. Feeney
left Rath Lugh after emerging from the tunnel and was
yesterday resting with family, said Mr. O'Kearney.
The site of Ms. Feeney's protest was sealed off behind a
chain-link fence and was yesterday being patrolled by
security officers. Protesters have vowed to stay at the
site, said Derek Berrill, a spokesman for the Rath Lugh
Direct Action Group.
The protest generated much media attention, and yesterday
a steady steam of visitors came to see what the fuss was
about.
© The Irish Times, 17th. March 2008.
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