Clashes as M3 route protest is dispersed

Conservationists opposed to the route of the M3 in Co Meath are expected to make complaints to the Garda this morning about the way they were treated during clashes at the motorway construction site yesterday.

Five conservationists attempted for the third consecutive day to block access to and from a compound where plant and machinery are stored by contractor Siac Ferrovial.

They were aided by a small group who attempted to block entrances to the construction site about 1km north of Dunshaughlin.

Shortly before 9am yesterday, they allege they were "manhandled" out of the way by workers at the site.

They immediately sent out telephone text messages headed "SOS", claiming that "after 72 hours of peaceful protest" workers were "bullying activists".

One protester who asked not to be identified said he had been kicked while another female member of the group had been thrown into a ditch.

The protesters had refused to move to allow the lorries and plant to leave the compound.

The spokesman said, however, that "huge bulldozers" were used to create new entrances, a move he insisted was in defiance of planning permission.

Gardaí were present but no arrests were made.

By mid-afternoon, the protesters were still attempting to block the movement of lorries.

When The Irish Timesspoke by phone to Dr Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin of the department of medieval Irish studies at Maynooth, she said she was on the protest sitting in front of a lorry.

Dr Ní Bhrolcháin said she was with a group of conservationists whose names were being taken by a team of eight gardaí who said they were trespassing on private property.

"We don't know if we are or not, we are in the gateway," she said. As Dr Ní Bhrolcháin spoke a car approached the compound and was allowed in.

She said the protesters would make no attempt to prevent individual workers from entering the site or going home and individual cars would be allowed to leave.

A spokesman for the National Roads Authority referred all questions to the contractor. A public relations spokeswoman for Siac Ferrovial said the company had "essentially nothing to add on or off the record" to a statement which was issued yesterday.

That statement said a number of people "blocked a few of the site entrances to prevent plant and machinery entering and exiting a small section of the site". It added that gardaí were called "as it is the responsibility of the company to protect the health and safety of its workers and the public on its site".

The spokeswoman later added that "protesters were removed peacefully from the site for their own safety, as they were in danger of being injured by construction machinery working nearby."

A spokeswoman for the Garda Press Office said: "Gardaí were called out shortly after 8am to the site of the M3 motorway where a number of protesters had been seen." She said they did not make any arrests and the protest later dispersed.

Opponents of the M3 claim it passes too close to the Hill of Tara and goes through the Tara Skryne valley.