Duchas drops legal complaint against protester

Duchas, the State body charged with protecting national monuments, has dropped a complaint to the Garda against a protester occupying Carrickmines Castle, Co Dublin, after The Irish Times sought information on the matter.

A spokesman said yesterday it had decided not to pursue a complaint it initiated last November against Mr Ruadhán Mac Eoin, one of the "Carrickminders" occupying the castle.

Mr Mac Eoin was alleged to have illegally excavated the site, which is an archaeological treasure-trove dating back to medieval times.

The South-Eastern Motorway is due to be built across the site shortly.

Responding to a query last Friday, the spokesman told this newspaper that no contact had been made with the Garda.

When The Irish Times later confirmed that the Garda were involved, the spokesman said he had been "ill-informed".

Yesterday, Dúchas officials told the investigating Garda, Insp Frank Keenaghan of Stepaside station, that they were dropping the complaint.

Last night, Mr MacEoin described Dúchas's behaviour as outrageous and said he would be responding with his own complaint to the Garda.

The "Carrickminders" claim part of the archaeological remains have been damaged as a result of bulldozing work on the site.

He said it was "ironic" that the only people Dúchas wanted to take action against were those fighting for the preservation of the archaeological remains on the site.

Over 1,000 of the 120,000 national monuments in the State are being destroyed annually yet only a handful of prosecutions are taken each year, according to the Heritage Council.

The dispute arises from an incident last November, when the head archaeologist on the site, Mr Gary Conboy, reported that protesters had carried out an unlicensed excavation. Mr MacEoin removed tarmac and concrete in an area near the farmhouse the protesters have been occupying for the past few months.

Although most of the site will be obliterated by the motorway, the area around the farmhouse is being preserved.

Mr MacEoin agrees he moved the concrete "after seeing cobble-stones peeping out from underneath".

He says the surface was "treacherous" following a period of heavy rain, and no damage was caused.

Although the protesters agreed not to remove any more material, Dúchas contacted the Garda.