A METAL palisade fence has been erected between the construction site of the M3, close to the Rath Lugh national monument in Co Meath, and a camp in which protesters and conservationists are based.
The fence was completed by road-building contractor Eurolink yesterday in an attempt to keep the protesters from digging new tunnels - similar to one which had been occupied for 60 hours by protester Lisa Feeney - in the path of the motorway.
A Garda presence is being maintained over the weekend to ensure that the fence is not damaged before concrete in which it has been placed has set. The Garda said that three people who were arrested for trespass on Thursday had not been charged.
Speaking to The Irish Times, Ms Feeney insisted that she had been "tricked" into leaving her tunnel by the National Roads Authority (NRA), as she had made no undertakings about the behaviour of other protesters. She said that a 10-point agreement she had reached with the authority made no mention of a fence and was dependent only on her leaving the tunnel, which she had done.
Ms Feeney said she now accepted that a digging machine had been daubed with excrement by protesters whose identities she did not know. She said that the daubing had prevented the machine from working on the Rath Lugh esker. Protesters claim that the esker, a glacial ridge, is an integral part of the 2,000-year-old fort.
Construction work on the controversial section of the road continued yesterday, with the north and southbound sections being excavated to foundation level. Crushed stone is to be poured into this foundation in the coming days to allow haulage past Rath Lugh.
The NRA said that Dr Eric Farrell, of Trinity College Dublin, had visited the site and had confirmed that works were being carried out in accordance with good practice.
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