Hill of Tara / M3 motorway UNESCO Consultation - Please make submissions by 30 Jan

international | history and heritage | news report Sunday December 21, 2008 14:00 by TaraWatch

Call for submissions - Make Tara a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but Re-Route the M3 first!

TaraWatch is calling on the public to make submissions to an advisory group that has been set up by the Irish Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, to review the Tentative List of potential UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Ireland. The deadline is 30 January, 2009.

The Irish Government is currently building the M3 motorway through the heart of the archaeological complex associated with the Hill of Tara, in County Meath, at the same time that it is proposing to nominate Tara to Ireland’s UNESCO Tentative List (a list of nominees as World Heritage Sites).

Minister for the Environment John Gormley, says he thinks Tara should be a World Heritage Site, and that the M3 shouldn't be a problem. We disagree. We believe the M3 ruins the integrity of the site, and detracts from the outstanding universal value of the site. It would be a breach of the World Heritage Convention, for Ireland and UNESCO to declare Tara a World Heritage Site, with the M3 passing through it.

Our position is that:

- The Hill of Tara complex qualifies for World Heritage status as a natural and cultural landscape of outstanding universal value, due to its unique cultural significance, and the extent of the surviving remains. Tara covers a much larger area than that the 100 acres of State-owned land on the summit of the Hill, which currently delimits the ‘national monument’. The M3 passes through the middle of the area to be protected.

- The entire Tara archaeological complex and cultural/natural landscape should be declared a World Heritage site. Expert bodies such as the World Monuments Fund, the Heritage Council, have recognised Tara consists of the entire Hill of Tara along with the Tara / Skryne valley, as well as the defensive forts that encircle the hill, including national monuments such as the defensive forts of Rath Lugh (to the east), Rath Miles (to the north) and Ringlestown Rath (to the west), and have called for the re-routing of the M3.

-The M3 motorway, due to open in 2010, should be re-routed outside of the Tara complex, before the site is given UNESCO World Heritage Protection. It would be a breach of the World Heritage Convention for UNESCO to inscribe the site, with the M3 passing through it. This is confirmed by the fact that Tara was placed on the World Monuments Fund, 2008-2010 List of 100 Most Endangered Sites

We are asking the public to sign our petition and to make submissions, before Friday, January 30th, 2009. Email your submission to worldheritagetentativelist@environ.ie and also secretariat@unesco.org

TaraWatch is a member of the UN Global Compact
http://www.unglobalcompact.org/

More information:

Minister Gormley's call for submissions - Dec 1
http://www.environ.ie/en/Heritage/WorldHeritage/LatestN...n.htm

Minister Gormley's claim that Tara should be a World Heritage Site, despite M3 motorway:
http://www.environ.ie/en/Heritage/Archaeology-NationalM...n.htm

Ireland's current Tentative List:
http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/state=ie

UNESCO World Heritage Convention:
http://whc.unesco.org/en/conventiontext/