Tara protester Squeak says
she
- feared for her life
By - Anne-Marie Walsh.
THE WOMAN who abandoned a tunnel protest against the
construction of the M3 at the weekend has admitted she
"feared for her life" at one stage.
Speaking for the first time since her ordeal, Lisa
"Squeak" Feeney (26) said she lost her nerve when she
felt movement at the top of her makeshift bunker.
She said she feared earth would tumble down the shaft of
the tunnel when she heard a commotion overhead.
Lisa, from Kerry, was holed up in the subterranean
hideaway, which she built with other eco-warriors, for
three days before surfacing last Saturday night.
The Dublin-based bicycle courier was eventually persuaded
to leave the tunnel near the slopes of the historic Rath
Lugh fort following emotional pleas by her father.
As a result of her action, she secured agreement from the
National Roads Authority (NRA) that construction work at
the site will be postponed until April 17th.
Lisa occupied the tunnel in protest at the construction
of the motorway, which she claims poses a risk to the
ancient monuments which dot its route.
Rath Lugh Direct Action has demanded that the route be
moved from Rath Lugh, claiming it contravenes a
preservation order on the site.
Lisa's protest tunnel at Rath Lugh was over two miles to
the north-east of the Hill of Tara in Co. Meath. "I was
never worried for my life and felt fully confident until
I feared there was movement near the entrance to the
tunnel", she said.
She went into the tunnel equipped with a Padraig Pearse
book and supplies of dried food to last two months.
"It was a challenge and I had candles and a head torch",
she said. "There was 15 metres of earth above me. I
couldn't stand up in the chamber but I could stand up in
the shaft".
"I didn't feel like I was being buried alive. I was down
there a couple of times before and was well used to
it".
She said the turning point in her decision to abandon her
dangerous protest came when her father arrived.
"My poor dad", she said. "The officials at the site
worried him silly. They really did".
"They kept making sensational remarks to make him worry,
like telling him I was going to die".
Ms. Feeney plans to rejoin protesters this morning.
© The Irish Independent, 19th. March 2008.
Related Articles:
Trouble and Squeak.
Tara protester emerges from her underground "mole"
hole.
Squeak calls off her Tara protest.
Protesters
vow to step up M3 campaign after deal struck.
