Ordinary citizens should stand by
Tara
I believe it's time for ordinary people to protest to the
Government, or through the media, against the cultural
vandalism threatening the ancient, sacred site of
Tara.
The M3 route decision could be reversed, yet the
Government is curiously reluctant to do so. Little time
has been spent on consideration of alternatives. Some
archaeologically significant sites already discovered in
the area - there are at least 38 of them - have been
"downgraded" by the NRA.
In a paper presented to the Environment Minister in 2005,
Dr. Pat Wallace, director of the National Museum, stated
that sites at Roestown had been downgraded and that "this
almost amounts to a redefinition of a monument type in
non-monument terms ... (in one case) Bronze Age material
uncovered during testing is not mentioned in the
resolution document". Why?
Many people will recall, how many years ago, Dublin lost,
under concrete and hideous architecture, what was argued
at the time to be the most significant early Viking
settlement uncovered in the whole of Europe, at Wood
Quay.
Clearly, successive governments have cared little for
national heritage. Ordinary citizens should express their
disgust at yet another act of cultural destruction. In
particular I would ask my fellow Irish writers, actors,
visual artists, members of Aosdána and the Irish
Writers' Union to stand by Tara.
There is no excuse for silence.
Fred Johnston,
1 Carn Ard,
Circular Road,
Galway.
© The Irish Examiner, 2nd. October 2007.
