Archaeology students speak out about M3 through Tara

galway | anti-capitalism | news report

Tuesday February 15, 2005 19:19

by Eve - Archaeology Student

Open letter to the minister Dick Roache

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To Dick Roache,
Minister of Environment, Heritage and Local Government,

We are writing to you as archaeology students in regard to the granting of excavation licences for the proposed M3 motorway which runs through the Tara-Skryne valley. We urge you not to grant these licences, because doing so amounts to consenting to the destruction of one of Ireland’s most important archaeological complexes and an integral constituent of our cultural heritage.

As archaeology students we are very concerned about the potentially destructive effects that the construction of a four lane motorway would have on Tara. The archaeological, cultural and historical landscape at Tara cannot be confined to a single hilltop but must be seen as a larger complex of monuments created by the people who have lived in this island for over six millennia, and who chose Tara as a place to bury their dead inaugurate their kings, worship their deities and fight their battles. The currently proposed routing will sever the monumental complex, substantially damage the archaeological landscape and result in the destruction of numerous archaeological sites that contribute to the monumental landscape as a whole.

Should you as minister grant the licences for excavation, the dense and sensitive archaeology in the area will be excavated by private commercial archaeology companies, profit driven and development orientated. Many of us as archaeology students have worked on excavations for private companies with clients such as the N.R.A and it has been our experience that field archaeologists are poorly paid, under resourced and work in conditions which are inadequate, and are not conducive to thorough, meaningful excavation. This results in poor excavation and recording of our archaeological heritage as well as the exploitation of field archaeologists. If you as minister grant the excavation licenses not only will the it result in the destruction of numerous archaeological sites, but it will also reduce Tara and its landscape to a mere commodity to be exploited by profit driven archaeology companies and road developers. Tara deserves better than this.

Tara holds a central place in our history, heritage and culture, and its significance to people in Ireland as constituting a core element of our cultural heritage is widely recognised. I suggest that given the importance of Tara for people in Ireland and the wealth and sensitivity of the archaeological complex, that it should be protected, in a way that is sensitive to the wishes of both people in the local area and those the wider community in Ireland, so that future generations can enjoy and learn from it.

To continue with the proposed routing of the M3 road through the Tara-Skyrne valley is tantamount to cultural vandalism. I thus urge the minister not to grant the licences for excavation.

Archaeology and Heritage Studies Students
NUIG/GMIT