Campaigners against the planned M3 motorway route which passes close to the Hill of Tara have vowed that their fight is only starting, and have called on people to boycott politicians in the next general election who supported the route.
At the "Save Tara Valley Awareness March" around Navan on Saturday, celtic studies lecturer Dr Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin of NUI Maynooth criticised local deputy Noel Dempsey for his role in the project when he was minister for the environment. "He has suddenly found a new interest in the environment in fishing, but he certainly has shown absolutely no interest in the environment of his own county," she said.
"This fight is not over. There are six months to an election. Remember who is responsible for wrecking and destroying our heritage and don't vote for them."
The march was billed as a "last chance to save Tara", after last month's withdrawal of a Supreme Court appeal on the issue by conservationist Vincent Salafia. The new 60km tolled motorway will run from Clonee to Carnaross, north of Kells, by- passing Dunshaughlin, Navan and Kells.
Green Party deputy Ciaran Cuffe told the protesters that Tara had been a "holy place and a sacred space" for thousands of years. "Before Christ was born, Tara was sacred. In the 19th century, Tara was sacred, and in the 21st century we have to keep Tara as a sacred place." He said it would be "an act of sacrilege" to drive a motorway through the Tara shrine valley. "It would be the most disrespectful act to our history, to our heritage and to future generations."
Speaking before the march, NUI Galway archaeologist Dr Joe Fenwick said it would be "absolute folly" to build the motorway as planned. He has been working at the site for 14 years. "There's such a wealth of historical references and archaeological remains there. State-funded research has discovered all of these things and it seems that State funding is going to destroy them."
He said fears the motorway would bring a host of secondary developments were now being realised as planning applications were being lodged and lands reclaimed. Plans by JMP Construction to build a construction and demolition waste recycling facility some 1,500m (4,900ft) from the Hill of Tara are now with An Bord Pleanála.
Dr Fenwick said Minister for the Environment Dick Roche had passed legislation to allow Ikea to build a store at Ballymun, yet he refused to use the National Monuments legislation to have the motorway moved slightly to protect Tara.
Chairwoman of the Save Tara Shrine Valley Campaign Heather Buchanan insisted it was not too late to change the road plan. She said not many people realised that they would have to pay two tolls on the new road which would only serve to run them into a traffic jam at Blanchardstown faster. "We can't let this go. They are building Disneylands in America and France but we have our own national tourist attraction that they want to sever with a motorway," she said.
The National Roads Authority has continuously defended the project, saying the new road will be further away from Tara than the existing N3 and that the design of the route means that it will be screened from viewers on the Hill of Tara.
