Minister says he cannot 'vary' M3 route

The Minister for the Environment has said it is not within his power to significantly vary the route of the proposed M3 motorway through Co Meath.

Commenting as members of the Oireachtas Committee on the Environment visited archaeological sites in the Tara/Skryne valley yesterday, Mr Roche said his role in the current controversy was to decide on the method of preservation of archaeological artefacts. "But to vary the route is not my decision" he said.

Under the National Monuments Amendment Act the Minister has the power to direct how individual archaeological sites are preserved, including the authority to insist they remain in situ.

While the Minister added the route selection had been "confirmed by Bord Pleanála", critics of the road scheme say he could effectively block it by insisting that each archaeological site remain intact and in the ground.

Earlier yesterday Mr Michael Egan, corporate affairs director of the National Roads Authority (NRA), answered questions from the Oireachtas Environment Committee as they toured the area.

Mr Egan told Mr Eamon Gilmore TD that the NRA was hoping to archaeologically excavate and record findings at each site so far identified in the Tara area.

Should a "show-stopper" be discovered - and the Minister wants it preserved in situ - the National Monuments Act provided for the specific section of the motorway to be varied. This could "include putting the road over a monument or around a site without reference to moving the entire motorway or going through the planning process from start", he said.

The process involves the planning authority preparing a report for Bord Pleanála which would then decide if a new environmental impact assessment for the specific section was necessary.

Mr Egan said it was "not unlikely" that such a show stopper would be encountered but he said it could be handled without changing the route "from one valley to the next".

However, Dr George Eogan, professor of Celtic Archaeology at UCD, who was also on the site visit, said that Tara "is defined as a landscape" and the area could not be seen as a collection of separate archaeological sites.

Insisting that "Tara" incorporates the Hill of Tara and the Hill of Skryne as well as the surrounding landscape, Prof Eogan said it was comparable to the pre-historic sites at Loughcrew and at Brú na Boinne .

"The Tara complex is a term we must use. It is the same size as Brú na Boinne which was accepted as a world heritage site by UNESCO," he said.

Dr Edel Bhreathnach, who edited a history of Tara which is to be published next spring, agreed that Tara should be described as a landscape. Dr Bhreathnach said she and other archaeologists were refused permission to attend the visit by Oireachtas members. The Minister is not expected to announce his decision on the preservation of the artefacts until early next year.