Strong words were exchanged between the director of the National Museum, Dr Pat Wallace, and the Government's chief archaeologist, Brian Duffy, over the plan to run the M3 motorway past the Hill of Tara, writes Frank McDonald, Environment Editor.
In documents released to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act, Dr Wallace said "there appears to be an attempt to downplay the importance" of some of the archaeological sites along the route - a claim Mr Duffy described as "disingenuous".
Mr Duffy also poured cold water on the museum director's call for Tara's landscape to be designated as an "archaeological area", saying Dr Wallace "offers no definition of the 'archaeological and cultural landscape' that he says exists" around the hill.
"Simply stating that the Hill of Tara and the complex or association of monuments and sacred spaces in its surroundings constitute an archaeological landscape does not define that landscape or allow for its delimiting on a map," Mr Duffy wrote.
He was responding to an 18-page letter, dated March 16th, from Dr Wallace in which he said the Tara complex was the most important of its type in Ireland, "if not in Europe", and deserved "the fullest and most generous archaeological protection".
Minister for the Environment Dick Roche was statutorily obliged to consult the museum director prior to issuing directions on how archaeological sites along the route should be handled.
Dr Wallace took exception to the use of 22-tonne mechanical excavators in stripping topsoil to expose archaeological features, saying "the chances of retrieving archaeological objects in the face of heavy machinery of this sort are ... very limited indeed".
But Mr Duffy, in his response to Dr Wallace's letter, said "mechanical testing" was carried out under a number of excavation licences issued following consultation with Dr Wallace, and "no questions were raised or concerns expressed" at that stage.
Another complaint raised by the museum director was that "little or no attempt seems to have been made to interpret the sites as opposed to describing isolated features", while 19th century sites "appear to receive minimal attention and inadequate analysis".
In a reference to Dr Wallace's involvement in Wood Quay, Mr Duffy wrote: "I'm sure that the director is well aware that it was common practice in the past in excavations in Dublin city to rapidly remove all post-medieval deposits ... to get to the 'real archaeology' underneath."
As for Dr Wallace's opposition to the most sensitive section of the M3 route, between Dunshaughlin and Navan, Mr Duffy said most of the points he made in his letter "should have been raised at the planning stage" - before it was approved by An Bord Pleanála in August, 2003.
Dr Wallace said it was clear that the density of the sites in the Tara-Skryne valley is greater than elsewhere along the M3 route.
"It is certain that other sites will turn up given that those we already know were uncovered only in limited geophysical surveys and rough archaeological testing."