A number of significant finds have been made in counties Wicklow, Dublin and Louth as a result of the State's roads programme, but some archaeologists have expressed concern at the process.
Under a deal involving the National Roads Authority (NRA) and the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands the road schemes are required to have an archaeological assessment carried out.
However, where significant finds are discovered the sites are, according to the Minister for Arts Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands Ms de Valera, "preserved by record".
That is, artefacts are photographed and removed and earth mounds such as those found in Co Wicklow are bulldozed as the road goes through.
A similar fate awaits the extensive foundations of medieval Carrickmines Castle, which were unearthed as part of a dig associated with the South Eastern Motorway.
The €3.5million excavation is one of the largest to be carried out in Ireland since Wood Quay in Dublin and involves upwards of 80 archaeologists from 12 countries. When the excavation is finished a motorway junction will be built on the site.
Fears have also been expressed about the building of a new road between Kells and Clonee in Co Meath. The road passes close to the Hill of Tara, seat of Ireland's High Kings and part of an archaeological complex taking in the Hill of Skryne and Dunsany.
A spokesman for An Taisce, however, insisted that "terrible destruction is being wreaked on our heritage" through the roads programme. The spokesman claimed that along the route of the M1 near Drogheda "artefacts were being found practically every 50 metres". While artefacts can be removed for preservation, he claimed "items such as Carickmines Castle or settlement areas simply can not".
However, the Minister, Ms de Valera, has defended the process, telling The Irish Times that "when the construction phases of a road begins it will already have been designed to avoid important and significant archaeological sites".
She said the code of practice agreed with the roads authority was based on archaeological practices enshrined in the the European Convention on the protection of Archaeological Heritage, and the Republic's National Monuments Acts.
She added that she was "gaining the co-operation of the development sector" and similar codes of practice were in place with Bord Na Móna, Bord Gáis, and the Irish Concrete Federation.
