Press Release. Campaign to Save Tara,
20th. September 2007, 13:30.

Tara celebration equinox weekend

Harpers of Ireland at Dáil Éireann and USA
Form a giant Harp on Tara with Stuart Townsend and Jonathan Rhys Meyers

The people of Ireland have two opportunities to protest for Tara's landscape in a peaceful, productive and pleasant way this weekend.

On Saturday 22nd. September 2007 at 3 p.m. harpers of Ireland will gather at Dáil Éireann to demonstrate publicly the strength of their opposition to the current destruction of historic, cultural sites in the Tara/Skryne Valley. The harpers will assemble with their Harps along Kildare Street and call on the government to implement alternatives to the continued destruction that is taking place.

The speakers will include Kathy Sinnott MEP, actor Stuart Townsend, Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains, campaigner Dr. Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin, harper Anne-Marie O'Farrell and will be introduced by Laoise Kelly harper. Massed harpers will perform The Harp that Once Through Tara's Halls along with other Harp pieces to include Brian Boru's March, An Ghaoth Aneas, and Carolan's Concerto. Petitions will be available for signing and will be submitted to Minister for the environment John Gormley the following Monday.

On Sunday 23rd. September hundreds of people will gather at the Hill of Tara to celebrate our shared heritage and create the world's first GIANT HUMAN HARP.

People are asked to gather from 1.30pm to form the harp and the message SAVE TARA VALLEY. This event will be directed by the internationally renowned Aerial artist John Quigley and will include Irish-born film stars Stuart Townsend and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. The image will be photographed from an aircraft. Participants are asked to wear white clothing and to bring rain gear. Mr. Quigley has created similar human "aerial art" images all over the world including the Arctic, the Amazon rain forest and Antarctica where 35 people spelt out SOS. The public are asked to leave the Hill as they find it: "Take nothing but memories - leave nothing but footprints".

To view examples of John Quigley's work visit his Website.

Ireland is unique in having a musical instrument, the harp, as its national emblem. This indicates the primacy of the harp in Irish culture. The sites currently under threat are inextricably linked with the harping and bardic traditions for more than 2,500 years. The harp has been used in the coat of arms of Ireland since 1270 and is the symbol of the Irish State today. It is found in the seals of the President, Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Government Ministers, on State currency and is the insignia of the Irish Law Courts.

It is an outrage that the Irish people should be forced to choose between infrastructure and heritage. As a country we are embarrassed internationally by profit-driven, shortsighted planning as exemplified by the fact that the World Monument Fund has placed Tara on its list of 100 most endangered sites worldwide.

This would not only be an archaeological and historical loss but it is also a spiritual loss - before the conversion by St. Patrick of Ireland's High Kings it was a place where the Irish sought to express their spirituality. And significantly for us as a nation, it was the place of birth of Christianity in Ireland.

The gathering of harpers say that it is also a musical and cultural loss and asserts that the sound of Tara's harp will not be drowned by traffic jams and the cash registers of toll plazas.

Further information on the Harper event in Dublin:
Laoise Kelly
Tel: 086-2603405
E-Mail: laoise.kelly@face.ie
or
Anne-Marie O’Farrell
Tel: 01-2966222 or 087-2348964
E-Mail: amofharp@iol.ie
Web site: http://www.myspace.com/TaraHarpers

For information on the Aerial Art Event at Tara:
Kevin Hayes
Tel: 086-2504564
or
Joanne Corbett
Tel: 086-6030389

Events in USA

On Saturday 22nd. September there will a similar Tara demonstration at 11am at the Consulate General of Ireland 345 Park Avenue between 51st and 52nd, New York. The internationally renowned poet, Paul Muldoon, will speak.

Further information from:
Susan McKeown
E-Mail: savetarany@yahoo.com
Web site: http://www.myspace.com/TaraHarpersNY

Another demonstration will take place at 2.30-5.30pm Martin Luther King Auditorium, Santa Monica.
Further information from:
Karen Wilson
E-Mail: kw@cmh2.com
Web site: http://www.cmh2.com/savetara-la.

ENDS

Media queries:
Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin
Tel: 087-9249510
E-Mail: info@savetara.com
Web site: http://www.savetara.com

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Tara Equinox Aerial Art Event.
Harpists demonstrations in Ireland and USA.
Poster for Los Angeles Demo.
Poster for New York Demo.