Stop the destruction of
Tara
Dear sir - I am writing to express my outrage at the
Irish government's plans to route the M3 through the
Tara/Skryne Valley and its insistence on proceeding with
excavations despite widespread opposition.
Photographs of the excavation site make it clear that the
process is being carried out in a destructive and
careless manner.
It is clear from archaeological, historical and literary
evidence that Tara is an ancient site of great
significance and international importance. Why would the
government deliberately choose to build a motorway
through what has been a culturally significant landscape
since the Neolithic period, and thus destroy one of its
richest cultural treasures?
To do so means inflicting the same kind of damage British
governments have inflicted on Stonehenge and the
archaeologically rich area surrounding it.
The rest of the world could only view such a decision as
one of staggering stupidity. It is like building a
highway through the Roman coliseum.
As a Canadian scholar of medieval Irish literature and
history, I appeal to the government to reverse the
decision to route the M3 through the Tara/Skryne Valley
immediately.
Tara/Skryne should be designated a World Heritage
Site.
Yours sincerely,
JOANNE FINDON,
Assistant professor,
Department of English Literature,
Trent University,
Peterborough,
Ontario,
Canada.
© The Meath Chronicle, 6th. August 2005.
