Celebrities come to tara

national | environment | press release Friday October 01, 2004 14:43 by Save Tara - Save Tara Skryne Valley Group info at taraskryne dot org

‘Stuart Townsend Invites U2, Sinead, Marianne & Other Celebrities To
Hill of tara Event – Sunday, 10 October’

PRESS RELEASE

SAVE tara SKRYNE VALLEY GROUP

1 October 2004

‘Stuart Townsend Invites U2, Sinead, Marianne & Other Celebrities To
Hill of tara Event – Sunday, 10 October’

Stuart Townsend, who has formally become a spokesperson for the Save
tara Skryne Valley Group, is inviting celebrities to the Hill of tara
on Sunday 10th October, to oppose the planned M3 motorway which will
pass through the tara archaeological complex.

Invited guests include all U2 members, Sinead O’Connor, Marianne
Faithful, Liam O’Maonlai, Jim Sheridan, Neil Jordan and Lainey Keogh.
Ronan O Snodaigh of Kila has already agreed to attend.

National politicians, including the new Minister for the Environment,
Heritage and Local Government, Mr. Dick Roche, are also being invited,
as are local councillors and groups such as Meath Archaeological and
Historical Society. The public is welcome to attend.

The event, called Feis tara Skryne, will begin at Skryne Abbey at 1.00
PM, on the Hill of Skryne, approximately a mile and a half from the
sister Hill of tara. Leading Irish historians and archaeologists will
be on hand to give a guided tour of the historical sites.

The progamme will move from Skryne to the Hill of tara at 3.00 PM,
where the historical/archaeological tour will continue. Speakers,
poets, religious leaders and musicians will address the crowd, and
everyone will have an opportunity to participate. It is hoped that
public outcries will lead to a change in the motorway plans.

Mr. Townsend, who will be filming in Germany during October, is flying
in on Friday 8th October to appear on the Late Late Show. He has
written a letter in support of the campaign to save the Hill of tara
(attached). In it he writes:

“Someone really seems to have it in for our heritage. This is a matter
of national importance and I would urge as many people to attend as
possible.”

Vincent Salafia, Public Relations Officer the group said:

“We are delighted that this issue is finally getting the attention it
deserves. This event will give the new Minister for the Environment,
Dick Roche, a chance to understand what is at stake here at tara.

“Carrickmines Castle is still in the courts after two years, due to the
mismanagement of the former Minister, Mr Martin Cullen. We want to
avoid a repeat of that here, and make this a win-win situation.

ENDS

Vincent Salafia 087-132-3365

22 September 2004

EXCAVATING THE HEART.

By Stuart Townsend

The history of tara, and the Skryne valley goes beyond St Patrick,
beyond the high Kings of Ireland, even beyond the Druids and the Tuatha
De Dannan. And now we want to put a motorway through it. Barely anyone
has tried to stop what surely will be one of the greatest archeological
travesties of our time. Second only to the ancient artifacts stolen in
Iraq. But they had to start a war to get away with that one. We here in
Ireland seem to just be happy to let road builders dig up and tear
through the most ancient and sacred place that exists in our land.
Never mind the fact that in 50 years time there won't be any oil left
to fuel our motorway-cruising mobiles.

The development in tara represents in microcosm what is happening in
the country as a whole. Another example is the proposed powerline route
from Carrick-On-Shannon to Sligo. The 220 kilovolt pylons will create a
sterile corridor through rural countryside and affect an area filled
with megalithic importance. Someone really seems to have it in for our
heritage.

The ESB could technically put these cables underground but well...they
won't. Which has provoked the response "Bury the line, not the people".
So now not only the east coast is under threat, but the west coast
too. North and south anyone? But of course there are those who say"
it's just a hill", or" a bunch of old stones". These people have one
word for everything- Progress.

"More jobs will be created, a better standard of life, more things to
buy", the usual prosperity tag-lines get thrown about. To those I say;
take a look at our neighbours in England who have carved up their land
with motorways and pylons. We in Ireland are lucky because time is
still on our side. We have not devastated most of our rural beauty as
England has done, yet.

But in the name of progress- we will. And what standard of life will we
have then? And where's the Government in all this? Why is there no-one
protecting our most precious sites? Did we forget to hire a Minister
for the Environment? Or is he just taking a holiday at Crawford Ranch?

The much-heralded "Celtic Tiger" is now ravaging the Irish countryside.
If you believe, like me, that without our rich past we have no future,
please save tara and the Skryne Valley.

You can sign our petition or donate on the web site at taraskryne.org.

Stuart Townsend.