Kevin's hit and miss on Tara
debate
I read Kevin Myers' recent article "Unleash the JCB's and
finish off the Tara motorway", and was astounded at the
level of ignorance he seems to show.
Mr. Myers uses the analogy of Monte Cassino in Italy. He
talks of the Italians having "no choice" in regards to
putting an autostrada near this ancient monastery. Why is
that an example he uses when we had five different
choices for the M3 route, four of which did not go
through the most archaeologically significant place in
Ireland?
Maybe Kevin Myers did not hear, read, or listen to the
news these last few days. If he did, he might have heard
what I have discussed in regards to Tara. He might have
been able to write an informed article instead of using
three-year-old quotes from me, and making untrue
statements such as "show-business would never dream of
backing the plain people of Louth and Meath". All week
long I have alerted the media to a new alternative
proposal called the "Meath Master Plan". This plan, first
and foremost, "back[s] the plain people of Louth and
Meath".
"If we unleash the JCB's", as Kevin Myers advocates, the
people of Louth and Meath will be paying a toll fee, half
of which, goes to a private Spanish company, and they
will destroy a part of their heritage.
If Mr. Myers had read our proposal, he would understand
that our plan gives the Louth and Meath residents the
infrastructure they so desperately need, in the same
amount of time. The only difference is, this plan
includes heritage protection, local job creation, a toll
fee that goes back to the Irish people 100pc, and more
importantly in the long run, sustainable development.
I don't think Kevin Myers really cares about the
residents that he writes about. His piece of journalism,
if you could call it that, is a hit job designed to
misinform, divide and anger people further.
If he is a journalist without an agenda, he should have
done his homework and known what our Save Tara campaign
actually stands for. And what I stand for, not as some
celeb, but as an Irishman who cares about a place that
has national and global significance.
I guess since I have been living in my "palaces in
Hollywood", the level of journalistic opinion has
decreased considerably.
Stuart Townsend
© The Irish Independent, 3rd. October 2007.
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Unleash the JCBs and finish off the Tara motorway
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