Minister Gormley replies to EU
Petition Committee Chairman, Marcin Libicki's
letter
24th. July 2007.
Marcin Libicki,
Chairman,
Committee on Petitions,
European Parliament.
Dear Mr. Libicki,
Thank you for your letter of 20th. July, following the
visit of your delegation to Ireland in June. I was
delighted to have the opportunity to meet your delegation
on that occasion, and I trust the rest of your visit was
productive. As I said at our meeting, it is my hope that
your committee will investigate all of the relevant
petitions as rigorously as possible, in particular those
which relate to environmental issues. I look forward to
receiving your full report in due course.
In your letter you express the committee's concern about
damage to sites of great archaeological and historical
value and significance along the route of the M3.
Although I do not have responsibility for the M3 or its
routing, as Minister for the Environment I am responsible
for protecting our heritage and any significant sites
uncovered during this project. In 2005 my predecessor
issues a series of directions in respect of sites along
the route of the proposed motorway, and in June 2007,
shortly before I took office, he issued further
directions in respect of the national monument at
Lismullin, which had since been discovered. These
directions ordered the excavation of the archaeological
remains at this site.
As it is not open to me to review or reverse these
directions, I have a responsibility to ensure that the
excavation is carried out in accordance with best
archaeological practice, and that any potential damage to
the site is avoided. For this reason, I established an
expert advisory committee to advise on the conduct of the
archaeological investigations. This committee includes Dr
Conor Newman, a leading expert on the archaeology of
Tara, Dr. Pat Wallace, Director of the National Museum of
Ireland, Professor Gabriel Cooney of the School of
Archaeology, UCD, as well as representatives of the
National Monuments Service of my department, and of the
National Roads Authority.
It is important to point out that the advice I have
received from the expert committee is that the monument
at Lismullin is in a very vulnerable condition, could not
sustain or withstand preservation in situ and that,
therefore, excavation is desirable and in the best
interests of the archaeological remains. It is therefore
most urgent that these excavations begin as soon as
conditions allow, as recommended by the expert committee.
I am enclosing a copy of this committee's report for your
information.
The issue of compliance with EU law is of particular
concern to me, as I have stated that one of my priorities
in office will be to resolve a number of outstanding
cases taken against Ireland for infringements of EU
directives. For this reason I sought a meeting with
Commissioner Dimas earlier this month, at which we
discussed the M3 project amongst other issues. My
department is actively engaged in preparing a response to
the recent Reasoned Opinion in respect of the EIA
Directive, and we have sought legal advice in the matter.
However, as you will appreciate, the immediate issue of
avoiding damage to the vulnerable site at Lismullin must
be the overriding concern, so it is my intention that the
recommendations of the Lismullin Advisory Committee be
pursued as soon as they consider appropriate.
Your letter asks for urgent action to halt existing works
in this area and to review the routing of this section of
the M3 motorway. As responsibility for the works, and for
the routing of the motorway, lies with the National Roads
Authority, I have forwarded a copy of your letter to the
Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey TD, for
consideration. I should point out that the motorway works
at this location have indeed stopped, and will not
recommence until excavations of the national monument at
Lismullin are complete.
Yours sincerely,
John Gormley TD,
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local
Government
Related Articles:
Letter to John Gormley from Marcin Libicki.
