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Heed the People - Respect the Law - Stop the Dig - Save Tara! meath |
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 Monday July 11, 2005 16:12 by tarawatch - Meath Photos
 Excavations on the site M3 and Tara Interchange have begun. From a Concerned Commenteer: The Tara campaign has become quiet of late, and it is time to mobilize public support in a very public way. There has been a need to separate litigation from the Save Tara Skryne Valley Group, in order to ensure protection from liability for the members of the non-incorporated group, who are not taking action, or directly supporting it. However, a strong message needs to be sent to the Government, and to the nation, that the people want the digs stopped. As you have seen, a new survey (PDF here / Methodology here) shows the majority of Irish people are against the route, and thus the excavation of Tara.
On June 14th, the Minister for the Environment, The Attorney General, Meath County Council, and the National Roads Authority will come to the High Court and give their first answer to the legal charges railed against them. Certain procedural determinations will be made that way, on how the case will proceed. One of the main issues, of course, will be whether the authorities will stop work of their own accord, and respect the legal process, or whether they will plough ahead, and the judge will be forced to either issue an order or an injunction. The fact that works are still continuing since the July 4th hearing in the High Court, when leave was granted to review the lagality of the M3 motorway scheme, shows the contempt the authorities have for the law. They must be shown up, for the cultural criminals they are. A protest will begin outside the High Court on the morning of Thursday 14th July, at 9.00 am. It will continue throughout the day, until the hearing is concluded. The hearing will begin at 11.00 am - and could run into the afternoon. Mass peaceful demonstration must happen, if it is ever to happen for Tara. This is an opportunity to reverse the PR and lies being circulated by the likes of Minister Cullen, Meath Chambers of Commerce, IBEC, to the effect that only a small minority of troublemakers care about Tara. This must be a spontaneous outpouring. We need a strong representative group of Irish society there, including children, housewives, businessmen, shopkeepers and old age pensionners to come down and make their own sign. It is better that this is not seen to be 'organised' by Save Tara Skryne Valley group, since they are not taking litigation. It must be representatives of ALL environmental, social and political groups and PARTIES, who have an interest in this issue. Please call your party, your boss, your society and get a mandate to put out a call. This is the best opportunity we will have for months. The world media will be watching, and we have to shout now, as loud as we can.
Details / Photos of Work In Progress At Tara Work has started on the M3 at last. However the only area signed off for commencement is at the Tara area on the route.
Archeological dig licenses have been issued for work at Tara and nowhere else on the M3. Despite the M3 having been designed in stages, the Irish Government and Meath Co Co have adopted an all or nothing approach.
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Comments (26 of 26)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.
Monitoring the machine. I can't see one in the photo, but that doesn't mean there isn't one there. If there is no archaeologist present the matter should be reported to Duchas and the National Museum of Ireland. That is on the basis that the condition ont he monitoring is to have an archaeologist present!
I don't want to alarm anyone but all of the photos that I've taken at different stages show one to 2 Archaeologists standing in the field without watching what the digger is doing.
Not being of that profession myself, but having seen people standing around leaning on brushes in the past, I would say it’s a safe bet that there isn’t any real concern about what might be found in the topsoil. I can publish these photos too, if required?
BTW, there was a group of workers on the knees today examining something in a cleared area – maybe the discovery of afore-mentioned next Tara brooch?
.
PDF
http://hilloftara.info/survey/SurveyResults.pdf
Word Doc On Methodology
http://hilloftara.info/survey/method.doc
Tara Protest strategy meeting tonight, Monday at 7.OO PM
There will be a meeting in the IFI (Irish Film Institute) in Temple Bar on Monday night at 7.00pm, to co-ordinate the protest to be held
outside the Four Courts on Thursday, July 14th, beginning at 10.00am.
We will have flyers to be distributed over the coming days.
Rossa came up with a good idea - that everyone wears suits on Thursday
- and we look like IBEC, with no theatrics
Here is the copy on the protest:
'Heed the People - Respect the Law - Stop the Dig - Save Tara!'
SOS - PLEASE HELP NOW - OR NEVER
The Tara campaign has become quiet of late, and it is time to mobilize
public support in a very public way. There has been a need to separate
litigation from the Save Tara Skryne Valley Group, in order to ensure
protection from liability for the members of the non-incorporated
group, who are not taking action, or directly supporting it. However,
a strong message needs to be sent to the Government, and to the nation,
that the people want the digs stopped. As you have seen, a new survey
shows the majority of Irish people are against the route, and thus the
excavation of Tara.
On June 14th, the Minister for the Environment, The Attorney General,
Meath County Council, and the National Roads Authority will come to the
High Court and give their first answer to the legal charges railed
against them. Certain procedural determinations will be made that way,
on how the case will proceed. One of the main issues, of course, will
be whether the authorities will stop work of their own accord, and
respect the legal process, or whether they will plough ahead, and the
judge will be forced to either issue an order or an injunction. The
fact that works are still continuing since the July 4th hearing in the
High Court, when leave was granted to review the lagality of the M3
motorway scheme, shows the contempt the authorities have for the law.
They must be shown up, for the cultural criminals they are.
A protest will begin outside the High Court on the morning of Thursday
14th July, at 9.00 am. It will continue throughout the day, until the
hearing is concluded. The hearing will begin at 11.00 am - and could
run into the afternoon.
Mass peaceful demonstration must happen, if it is ever to happen for
Tara. This is an opportunity to reverse the PR and lies being
circulated by the likes of Minister Cullen, Meath Chambers of Commerce,
IBEC, to the effect that only a small minority of troublemakers case
about Tara.
This must be a 'spontaneous' outpouring. We need a strong
representative group of Irish society there, including children,
housewives, businessmen, shopkeepers and old age pensionners to come
down and make their own sign. It is better that this is not seen to be
'organised' by Save Tara Skryne Valley group, since they are not taking
litigation. It must be representatives of ALL environmental, social
and political groups and PARTIES, who have an interest in this issue.
Please forward this mail. Please call your party, your boss, your
society and get a mandate to put out a call. This is the best
opportunity we will have for months. The world media will be watching,
and we have to shout now, as loud as we can.
.
.
.
.
May be of interest?
2.5' of topsoil removal by digger - what
Note caterpillar track marks - no chance of artifact salvation here
Clearance for further digging
2 Archeologists ignoring the work of the digger (standing right)
Machinery in motion
For reference
N3 and Part of M3 dig site
Ní maith liom daoine a mbíonn ag adhlachadh ár gcuid oidhreacht idir dhúlra, shéadchomharthaí is theanga orainn.
Ná réabaigí ár gcuid fréamhacha uainn!
What, no tourists?
And who does care..?
Dig it up, shift it, dump it ..
Look at the dumper behind the trees on the right.. Look at the archaeologists standing behind the car behind dumper at the bottom right corner .. Do they look like they care?
Look carefully - the digger is not the point in this photo - look at the tipper truck on the bottom right..
Look at the careful 'dumping' by the tipper truck on the bottom right.. Read comments above.. Ignore the digger, look at the tipper truck and the 2 Archaelogists behind the car..
They stand chatting. The digger has dug up that soil, loaded it on to the this tipper truck, the tipper truck dumps it. as with photo above it is the compacted by the digger.
And the whole process seems to be ignored by the 2 archeologists standing behind the digger 30 feet away..
The Tipper truck, the soil of Tara and 2 relaxed Archeologists enjoying the sun.. There is gold in that there hill (well euros anyway)..
An grianghrafadóirí agus iriseoirí idirlín gníomhaithe an lae inniu?
Cá bhfuil na hagóidthe lena gcláracha ina lámha acu ag dul roimh na tochailteoirí?
Níl mé cinnte an léann an rialtas an suíomh seo.
At a public meeting at Dalgan Park on Sat June 11th attended by approximately 100 people (video records and minutes available) , one of the directors of the archaeological firm digging along the route of the M3 stated that all their sites were open to the public and that they were negotiating with the Dept of the Environment to have people present on the site to tell visitors at all times what they were doing. Please, everybody who can, please visit the sites, ask questions and take photographs. The same director also implied that his firm was at least 5 years behind in producing reports on their work (because of the references he made to work done on other motorways which has not been written up.) It is imperative that we put as much pressure as possible on archaeologists to be transparent; otherwise we are paying millions (estimated as between 20-30 million a year) for work which is almost entirely unmonitored and is not available to Irish citizens to read. There is so much work for these firms at the moment, they are under no pressure by the state to publish what they do as the NRA themselves have stated in their own monograph. Unless interested Irish citizens make a record, we may never have one. Archaeology is a branch of education not of building construction; we must fight to make sure that the millions spent "mitigating the archaeology" (i.e. designing the road to find as little as humanly possible in the course of road construction) includes publication of that excavation work which has been done. Otherwise we, the Irish taxpayers, are throwing our money away.
I welcome the M3, if there is any important artificats to be found they will be found now, if not they can be found under the ruins of our motorway by future post apocalypse generations
should there be any information on the finds of the digging? There was mention of a "house'' being found". Can anyone explain this? I just thought it would have been considered something of importance..am I wrong? What else have they found?
Nobody knows 'cause nobody cares
Nobody knows 'cause nobody cares
Nobody knows 'cause nobody cares
Nobody knows 'cause nobody cares
Nobody knows 'cause nobody cares
Nobody knows 'cause nobody cares
Nobody knows 'cause nobody cares
Woodstown people are quite now.. They must have succeeded..
literally a handful of people. It really is obscene.
"Those millions could finance a public hospital"
would generate and distribute wealth widely in the valley. Instead a few benefit (strictly short term farmland prices money whether cpo or not) and the majority's fields look onto - and down onto at that - a big noisy busy road. There goes the valley. No supervised tourists paying to do sensetive research/training archeology in one of the most famous areas - tara - on the planet. No access to 'encouragement' from europe to farm ecologically, develop heritage industry, allow land to be fallow and collect subsidies for providing habitat. The valley split in two as a community. A smell of petrol on the hill of tara.
And it's 3/12 k longer than an alternative route.
How much development exactly is planned for th valley area?
Lousy deal all round. All for sharks to come in and profit from destruction? Question is who are the sharks and what future attacks they have planned in and around tara?
I mean you could have a QUANDA about this for the week - easy.
I trust that the people of Meath will protect the valley from any unsightly developement.
That's why I am not going to place a ministerial order as I know they will police it themselves.
By the way, I think the old and run down Tara na Rí pub should be redeveloped as the Tara View Hotel.
As it is just on the other side of the M3 from Tara and has a perfect view of the Hill itself, and it's main features I would be a perfect tourist asset.
Also it is just at the site of the Tara Intersection. Perfect. In fact, I'll build a service station around the back as it will be hidden from the hill by the M3 intersection and the new TARA VIEW hotel.
So long - if you need my I'll be at my tent in the Galway races. Aside from the above, once the M3 is completed no more developement should take place.