Demonstration This Morning Against M3 at Tara and Passage of Strategic Infrastructure Bill

dublin | rights, freedoms and repression | press release Thursday July 06, 2006 09:57 by Siobhan - TaraWatch

TaraWatch is campaigning against the Government’s continued mishandling of the Tara/M3 motorway debacle, in the wake of Tuesday’s passage of the Strategic Infrastructure Bill.

A demonstration will take place on Kildare Street, outside the houses of the Oireachtas, at 10.00 AM this morning, Thursday July 6th.

The demonstration will stress that 70% of Irish people want the M3 rerouted away from Tara, but that the Government is not listening to the people.
http://www.hilloftara.info/docs/SurveyResults.pdf

Ciarán Cuffe (GP), Sean Crowe (SF), and Eamon Gilmore (Lab) are expected to attend the demonstration at 10.00 AM.

The theme of the protest is ‘For the Children’, and it will feature some theatrical elements, such as a rider on horseback. The idea is to stress that campaigners for Tara are fighting for the future, and are not dwelling in the past. They are concerned about the grotesque legacy of pilfered heritage and beauty, as well as decades of tolls to be endured by the children of today, who will have little democratic power to change anything in the future.

The new Act limits the rights of citizens to participate in the planning of certain capital infrastructure projects nationwide, and also curtails their ability to challenge planning approval in court.

TaraWatch maintains that the Government wanted the Hill of Tara issue to go to court, causing delays and cost over-runs in delivery of the M3 in order to foster a suitably angry environment in which to pass new legislation, which benefits the small but powerful business lobby in Ireland, led by IBEC and the Construction Industry Federation.

Tara is very much a live political issue, and will have a big impact on the coming election, regardless of what happens in the courts. The Government has worked hard at avoiding, rather than finding, a solution to the problem of their own creation. This issue is a test for Opposition parties to show they have vision and can solve problems.

Vincent Salafia, who is appealing his Tara / M3 case to the Supreme Court in the coming months, will also attend. He said:

“This campaign is about the future, and what we leave behind. The Government and their developer cronies are wrecking our children’s environment and cultural inheritance, as well as shouldering them with toll charges for 35 years. On the other hand they are stripping away their legal and civil rights to object.