Protesters block work at Carrickmines site

Monday September 30, 2002 11:01

by Joe

Just noticed this on the RTE website, which I have lifted.

>(09:29) A group of protesters at the Carrickmines medieval castle site in
>Dublin has managed to prevent archaeologists from carrying out work
>on the first phase of the construction of the south-eastern motorway.

>The protesters, calling themselves the 'Carrickminders', have blocked
>off the entrance at Golf Lane and excavation machinery cannot get
>onto the site.

The sentence '.. has managed to prevent archaeologists from carrying out work'
refers to the 'licence' that (corrupt) Duchas has granted for the excavation of
archaeological remains by mechanical diggers. This is the so called 'Brennan'
plan whereby they will save a 10ft section of wall by digging it up with a digger
and placing it in an Interpretative Centre in a few years hence. Just like the
non-existant Interpretative centre promised for Wood Quay as the so called solution
to the destruction of our priceless hertitage back then.

The government are lying completely about what they are saying about saving this site.
Much still remains to be dug and where the centre of CarrickMines castle is supposed to
be, a farmhouse stands now and is earmarked for destruction. The government claim this
area is not part of the archaeological site, whereas much remains to be found. It was
right here that the bones of many bodies were found and still more have yet to be excavated.

The CarrickMines site is one of the most well preserved and valuable found in recent years,
and the biggest hoard of pottery (30,000 pieces) ever found in Ireland was made here.
It is thought that about 200 bodies still remain to be found, dating back to a massacre several
hundred years ago.

The round-about which the NRA want to build here is 70% bigger than any other along this section
of the motorway. It also so happens that a slip-road off the roundabout, which will
pass right through significant parts of the site will terminate on the land of
Jackson Way, on land which was rezoned in a very controversial manner and sold for
around 5 million per acre. This deal has recently come under investigation by the Flood Tribunal.

But if that is not bad enough, the original 1993 plan route for the motorway, passed south of the site
because they were aware of the site. The 1997 plan changed it to the present route and strangely left
out any mention of the archaeological site.

It is quite clear that there was blatant criminal corruption in the planning and re-routing of this
motorway and now through spin we are being told that it is going to be saved when plainly it is not.
These are the people who on St Patricks days travel the world proclaiming how great Ireland is and
it's hertitage and yet here, using all the powers of the state available to them to undermine and
oppose those trying to save the site and giving the green light for it's obliteration.

I say well done to the people who have taken this protest action this morning and I urge anyone with
time on their hands to get involved and go up there and blockade the site. In particular I urge anyone
who has retired such as OAPs. Your presence there can make an enormous difference.

Waiting for the next election in four years and casting your vote then will be totally ineffective.
This shows what a joke electoral parlimentary democracy is. It is a farce and side show to divert
people's energies away in talking shops where it can be safely vented while the important process of
robbing the people and their hertitage can continue unabated.

The game plan of the government is to destroy this site, before it can be challenged in the courts, because
once it is gone, any further action will be irrelevant.