CONSTRUCTION OF a contentious section of the M3 motorway at Rath Lugh, near Tara, Co Meath, is being delayed by a subterranean protester who is refusing to emerge from a 10m (33ft) deep tunnel dug into the motorway site.
Lisa Feeney from Dublin, who says she is a psychology graduate aged in her early 20s, told The Irish Times via two-way radio yesterday that she was "comfortable", well-equipped and was passing her time by reading a book by Pádraig Pearse by candlelight.
"It's grand," Ms Feeney said. "They haven't cut off my air supply, so it's comfortable enough. I'm prepared to stay here for months."
The protesters are objecting to a motorway coming so close to the ancient Rath Lugh promontory fort, which has been declared a national monument, as well as cutting through an area that contains scores of significant heritage sites dating back 2,000 years and more. Three protesters were arrested last night.
Ms Feeney said that she was in a chamber built at the bottom of a 33ft tunnel, which was dry, warm and well ventilated by a wind- powered pump. She has tinned food, as well as dried peas and beans which she intends to sprout in water in order to sustain herself.
Ms Feeney and other M3 protesters had dug a shaft directly down into the steep embankment of the Rath Lugh "esker" - a glacial formation of rock and sand - since August, supporting the sides with pieces of plywood and timber.
At the bottom of the shaft they had widened it into a chamber that was supported by more timber and a car jack. Protesters said that Ms Feeney had chained herself to the car jack, which also served as the main structural support for the chamber where she is holding out.
Meath County Council fire officers yesterday refused to enter the tunnel to try to bring her to the surface. By yesterday afternoon, her actions appeared to leave little work for a contingent of approximately 20 gardaí and about 30 construction workers.
After assessing the tunnel, fire officers decided that attempting a forcible entry would pose a threat to Ms Feeney's life, said Bill Sweeney, a spokesman for the council.
The workers and gardaí arrived at Rath Lugh at about 7am yesterday and began evicting protesters from the path of the motorway as workers tore down a temporary fort built into the side of the esker. The demolition work was delayed by 10 protesters who had chained themselves to rocks, metal cylinders and a 44-gallon drum that was dug and concreted into the hillside. Other protesters supplied their locked-in comrades with cigarettes and hot drinks as they peppered gardaí and workers with insults.
"Murderers," shouted one protester, Lou. "You are putting the life of a girl at risk."
Phillip Cantwell, an independent councillor with Trim town council, shouted that gardaí were assisting with an "illegal act" as Rath Lugh was a protected national monument. He said the motorway builders did not have the necessary approval to remove the protesters and begin work on Rath Lugh.
Seán O'Neill, a spokesman for the National Roads Authority, said the workers were trying to build a "crib wall" to support the Rath Lugh esker. "What the protesters are doing is counter-productive," said Mr O'Neill.
"The crib wall is there to protect the monument."
He was alarmed at the prospect of Ms Feeney staying underground for several months. "That is deeply concerning," he said. "If they've dug something far enough underground that they can stay there for several months they might be causing significant damage to the national monument itself."