Heritage Paradox
SIR - Once again the credentials of a government advisor
is questioned and questionable. (Irish Times, Agenda 5th
December, 2005) The Chief State Archaeologist was
appointed from a panel of three insiders in the
Department of the Environment's heritage section. He was
appointed despite the fact that others had better
qualifications and more experience than his. Not much
wonder then that Woodstown went noticed and his advice to
the Minister on the proposed M3 was to go ahead and that
the "M3 will be a monument of major significance in the
future".
The paradox of Fianna Fáil's attitude to our
heritage is highlighted in their recent recruitment
poster in universities where a young woman declares: "I
joined Fianna Fáil to have a say in our
environment and heritage". Have a say in what? A new
found interest in stately homes by the Taoiseach or in
the development of the Battle of the Boyne site? That's
all very fine but what of the monstrosity of a hotel at
Trim Castle, the incinerator near Newgrange and the
proposed destruction of Tara's Gabhra Valley?
The Chief State Archaeologist's nine pages of advice to
the Minister for the Environment (3rd. December 2004)
concentrate on the engineering aspect to the near
exclusion of archaeology and heritage. He defends the
EIS, the An Bord Pleanála Hearing and the chosen
route. He does concede that the section between
Dunshaughlin and Navan will be "costly and time consuming
to excavate". This is a direct contradiction of the NRA's
position that the excavations will only take 6-12 months.
He remarks incomprehensibly that: "None of these 38 sites
is a National Monument within the meaning of the Act". He
seems unaware of the fact that a National Monument is not
just confined to an archaeological site.
He goes further "Even in the Boyne Valley cemetery of
Passage Tombs it has never been argued that Newgrange,
Knowth and Dowth are all part of the one National
Monument, even though all three are in State care".
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Muireann Ní
Bhrolcháin,
58 Laurence Avenue,
Maynooth,
Co. Kildare.
© The Southern Star, 15th. December 2005.
