The basis of Dick Roche's M3 decision is revealed in a file released yesterday, writes Frank McDonald
National Museum director Dr Pat Wallace told former minister for the environment Dick Roche that he was "very perturbed about the protection of the ambience of Tara" after the controversial M3 motorway was completed.
In a letter to Mr Roche on May 3rd last, Dr Wallace said the recent discovery of a prehistoric henge at Lismullen, Co Meath, "comes as no surprise to those of us who accepted the thesis that the intended line of the road was indeed bisecting an ancient ritual landscape".
Mr Wallace was giving his views on draft directions providing for the "preservation by record" of the Lismullen site following a full-scale archaeological excavation, according to a file on the case released yesterday by Minister for the Environment John Gormley.
After the site was discovered by archaeologists employed by the National Roads Authority (NRA), it was inspected on April 6th by Dr Wallace and the Department of the Environment's chief archaeologist, Brian Duffy, who agreed it qualified as a national monument.
A subsequent report by Mary Deevy, the NRA's project archaeologist for the M3, described Lismullen as a "highly significant . . . prehistoric ritual enclosure" dating from the Late Bronze Age or Iron Age and located "beneath the important ceremonial complex on the Hill of Tara".
But her report suggested that Lismullen may have been "a ceremonial site serving lesser political units . . . perhaps more directly related to the nearby clifftop fort of Rath Lugh.
"It may alternatively represent a single ceremonial event on a site which was not then used again."
This was disputed by three experts on Tara - Edel Bhreathnach, Joe Fenwick and Conor Newman - who said the NRA's unwillingness to admit any link with Tara "is actually quite shameful and undermines utterly one's confidence in the professionalism of their approach".
They called on Mr Roche to "recognise that this is a unique landscape which should not be lost forever to generations in the future, that there now should be an admission that a mistake has been made and that a decision should be taken to re-route this section of the M3".
But Mr Duffy, in his advice to the former minister, said the claim that the landscape around the Hill of Tara would be lost forever if the M3 is constructed "is to say the least excessive" because the landscape that exists now was the result of "numerous millennia of human changes".
"It has been changed many times to meet the needs of succeeding generations of farmers and travellers," he said in response to the three academics. "There is no archaeological justification to seek to freeze it now so that it remains in its current visible form."
"The existence of a cultural/historic/archaeological . . . landscape in the vicinity of the Hill of Tara is not an issue. Indeed, as we live on an island that has been occupied by man for roughly 10,000 years, it can be argued that the whole country is a cultural landscape."
Referring specifically to Lismullen, which is a circular enclosure of stake-holes with an 80m diameter, he said: "All of us accepted that the M3 route would impact on previously unknown archaeological monuments, including possibly one or more of national significance."
Dr Wallace congratulated Mr Roche on declaring the henge a national monument, saying "its scale and comparative rarity as a type make it a compelling case", and argued that the nearby Baronstown site, which was destroyed last Tuesday night, should also be designated.
Calling for a "total excavation" of Lismullen to the highest archaeological standards, he criticised the NRA's use of machinery to excavate topsoil as "drastic".
Dr Wallace suggested that a glass wall should be erected on the M3 to reduce noise and to "cut out unsightly developments along this stretch of road". He again expressed concern that lighting at the Blundelstown interchange "will seriously undermine the sanctity of our most sacred place".
Finian Matthews, principal officer in the National Monuments Service, said it was "not clear how a glass wall . . . would reduce noise except in the immediate vicinity of the road". The most effective way of controlling development would be through "strong" planning policies.
He also advised Mr Roche that full archaeological excavation and recording of the Lismullen site "would not only provide the maximum archaeological information and heritage gain but also enables the construction of the M3 as approved by An Bord Pleanála [ in 2003]".
It would be difficult to alter the motorway route to preserve the henge in situ without realigning it over a number of kilometres. And if it was decided to opt for an alternative route running west of the Hill of Tara "there would still be major archaeological concerns to be addressed".
Changing the motorway alignment would also take "some years" because a new Environmental Impact Statement would be needed as well as further land acquisition and planning approval from An Bord Pleanála. The costs of all of this were also "uncertain", he added.
