Carrickmines article in the NY Times

national | miscellaneous | news report Thursday October 10, 2002 12:14 by redJaDe

:-) woohoo!

October 10, 2002
Route Over Ruined Irish Castle Stirs Protest
By BRIAN LAVERY
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/10/international/europe/10IREL.html

DUBLIN, Oct. 9 — After recent disclosures of corruption in government planning and zoning decisions, protesters have tapped into a groundswell of public support as they demonstrate against construction of a highway over the remains of a 14th-century castle in this city's affluent southern suburbs.

A steady stream of people, from concerned archaeologists to curious parents and children, visits the site daily and the topic is debated frequently on The Irish Times's influential letters page.

Dozens of demonstrators recently blocked a convoy of trucks from entering the grounds of Carrickmines Castle, which covers more than three acres and has been the subject of archaeological excavations for two years. A handful of protesters have occupied the site, living in homemade tents and in a dilapidated 18th-century farmhouse.

They say that through a corrupt zoning process, the highway's route was altered to benefit a company that owned lands, including the castle grounds, which the government bought for the project. A government tribunal is investigating.

The government transportation minister, Seamus Brennan, said he was uncomfortable with allowing the construction to proceed because of the castle's historic and archaelogical significance.

An Irish Labor Party member of the European Parliament, Proinsias De Rossa, has asked the Parliament to investigate whether the government failed to adequately protect the historic site, as required by European law. Opponents of the project are seeking an injunction to halt construction, saying European and Irish laws on preserving heritage sites are being broken.

Carrickmines Castle is "a prime example of the potential for conflicting interests between our ever-increasing need for improved transportation infrastructure and our equally important obligation to protect our cultural and archaeological heritage, for the greater good of our own and future generations," Mr. De Rossa said.

He added, "We have the right to insist that such a development does not wipe away our archaeological treasures."

But local officials say the highway is essential to relieving Dublin's crippling traffic problems, and that changing its route now is impossible.

Eamonn O'Hare, director of transportation for the Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, the government authority for South Dublin, said altering the plans would cost $50 million and delay the road's completion by four years. He said a delay could threaten Ireland's economic development because multinational corporations would think twice about investing in areas that lack proper transportation infrastructure, like the many business parks in South Dublin.

Norman settlers in Ireland built Carrickmines Castle as an outpost to defend the Dublin hinterland against the native Irish, who had been driven into the surrounding hills.