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Tuesday August 24, 2010 17:18
by Carmel Diviney - Tara Skryne Preservation Group
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Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22Tóibín attacks construction of ‘shameful’ M3 By Sarah Stack Irish Examiner
Saturday, June 05, 2010
THE award-winning writer Colm Tóibín has condemned the construction of the M3 motorway, which opened yesterday.
Mr Tóibín said the desecration of the landscape around Tara was shameful, short-sighted and beyond belief.
The motorway, which passes through Co Meath, could cut journeys between Co Cavan and Dublin by an hour at peak times.
The 60km tolled scheme – with a €1 billion price tag – provoked legal action and angry protests over its route past the historic Hill of Tara and archaeological complex.
Mr Tóibín spoke out from Co Kerry, where he was chairman of the Listowel Writer’s Week.
"In a time when Ireland needs places which have a sacred aura and a special beauty more than ever, it is sad to see those who have misruled our country ganging up on our heritage."
The author joined a long list of Irish artists – including Seamus Heaney, Paul Muldoon, Louis le Brocquy, Jim Fitzpatrick, Robert Ballagh and the Chieftains – who have previously criticised the location of the motorway.
Campaigners and environmentalists battled unsuccessfully since 2003 to force the Government to re-route the motorway away from the land around Tara.
The controversy over the roadway will continue for years as Tara was nominated to Unesco to be a World Heritage Site and listed as one of 100 Most Endangered Sites by the World Monuments Fund.
Elsewhere they maintained the European Commission is taking a case against Ireland for breaching the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive.
Vincent Salafia, of TaraWatch, said activists have been completely vindicated in their campaign against the route of this road. "The majority of Irish people, including most of our leading artists, as well as the EU and the major international archaeological bodies, have condemned it.
"The same reckless disregard for ethics, rights and regulation that brought down the economy, was employed to bulldoze this road through.
"The real kicker is yet to come, when traffic levels will show that the taxpayer will start paying millions of euros every year to the toll company, because traffic fails to meet the traffic guarantee which was secretly written into the M3 contract by the NRA (National Roads Authority)."
However, Transport Minister Noel Dempsey, who officially unveiled the motorway, which bypasses Dunshaughlin, Navan and Kells, said it was one of the biggest road projects to open in Europe this year.
Around 1,800 people were employed in its construction, with about 80 staff set to work at the its offices and toll plazas.
This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Saturday, June 05, 2010
Read more: http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/toibin-attacks-con...sMLVi
Colm Toibín
"The tail of the celtic tiger has whipped the strings off the Irish Harp ".
Seamus Heaney
Is that the same Seamus Heaney who lined up with the government to support the Lisbon Treaty after it had been rejected by the voters?
Seamus Heaney said in 2007: “for the past two millennia those generations regarded Tara as a place invested with sacred as opposed to secular value. Protest against the loss of this value remains an imperative”. In an interview with Diarmaid Fleming for a BBC documentary in 2008 he said the motorway: "literally desecrates an area - I mean the word means to desacralise' and, for centuries, the Tara landscape and the Tara sites have been regarded as part of the sacred ground". He referred to the 1916 Proclamation having summoned the Irish people "in the name of the dead generations" and said: "If ever there was a place that deserved to be preserved in the name of the dead generations from pre-historic times . . . it was Tara".
The third Feis Teamhra: A Turn at Tara, which features performances by internationally-recognized Irish poets and musicians, will be held between 3 and 5 o’clock on August 29 2010 on the Hill of Tara. Taking part are international and national renowed artists such as Aidan Brennan, Seamus Heaney, Laoise Kelly, Michael Longley, Susan McKeown, Paul Muldoon, and Colm Toibín.
While the Hill of Tara has become something of a contested spot, symbolizing for some less the sacred site where ancient Ireland crowned its kings than the desecrated site where modern Ireland gave in to crass consumerism and, as it were, drowned in things, the note the organizers hope to strike is not one of confrontation but celebration. Feis Teamhra is a celebration of the continuity of the linked traditions of Irish poetry and music, traditions that have almost certainly flourished here since at least 2000 BC.
Following appearances in its first two years by Seamus Heaney and Michael Longley, both esteemed poets will be returning to join this year’s special guest Colm Toibín.
Seamus Heaney won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995 and the 2009 David Cohen Prize for Literature. His most recent collection, District and Circle, won the 2006 T.S. Eliot Prize, while his 12th full-length book, Human Chain, is forthcoming in September from Faber and Faber. Seamus Heaney lives in Dublin.
The Belfast-based Michael Longley has always taken a particular interest not only in the flora and fauna of Ireland but its folklore and mythology. While he studied Classics at TCD, Michael Longley is capable of writing as movingly about Medbh and the Grey of Macha as about Menelaus and Mycenae. Among his many awards are the Whitbread Prize, the Hawthornden Prize, The Irish Times Literature Prize for Poetry, the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry, and the T.S. Eliot Prize. The author of 8 full-length collections, his Collected Poems was published by Jonathan Cape in 2006.
Also reading poetry will be Paul Muldoon, the Armagh-born, Princeton-based, winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize. While he has been vocal in the Campaign to Save Tara, Paul Muldoon will confine himself on this occasion to reading from Maggot, his 11th full-length collections of poems, published in October.
Colm Toibín is among the most distinguished of contemporary Irish fiction writers. His best known books are The South, The Heather Blazing, The Blackwater Lightship, The Master, Mothers and Sons, and Brooklyn. This last won the 2009 Costa Award, the latest of many awards that include the 2006 International IMPAC Literary Award and the Lambda Literary Award. Colm Toibin lives in Dublin and New York.
The musical component of Feis Teamhra: A Turn at Tara is headlined by Susan McKeown, the Dublin-born, New York-based, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter. Susan will release her seventh solo album, Singing in the Dark, in October. The passion and precision of her singing have led her to work with, among others, Natalie Merchant, Linda Thompson, Pete Seeger, Mary Margaret O’Hara, Billy Bragg, Arlo Guthrie and the Klezmatics.
The other musicians featured this year at Feis Teamhra are Aidan Brennan and Laoise Kelly. Aidan Brennan is a virtuoso guitarist who has worked not only with Susan McKeown (Sweet Liberty, 2004), but Kevin Burke (Kevin Burke in Concert, 1999) and Loreena McKennitt (Book of Secrets, 1997, and Midwinter Night’s Dream, 2008). Born in Dublin, Aidan Brennan now lives in Laois.
Laoise Kelly, generally considered to be the foremost Irish harper, lives in her native Mayo. The Irish Times has described her as “a young harpist with the disposition of an iconoclast and the talent and technique of a virtuoso.” In addition to her own CD (Just Harp, 2000), Laoise Kelly has worked with Sharon Shannon, The Chieftains, Natalie MacMaster, Sinead O’Connor and Kate Bush.
Feis Teamhra is co-sponsored by Poetry Ireland/Eigse Eireann.
Michael Longley Feis Teamhra 2009
While driving to Dublin recently from Trim we were directed at a roundabout just past Warrentowns to take a left for Dublin via Dunshauglin. If you know the way to Dublin from Trim you know that you dont turn for Dunshauglin/Navan to get to Dublin. You go straight through that roundabout and head for Batterstown and on to turn right near Fairyhouse. They are actually directing unfamiliar drivers to the area to drive out of their way and head north away from Dublin. The reason is so they can Squeeze money out of the unsuspecting driver by sending them through the toll plaza. Grabby bastards. Someone might put a sign up on the roundabout after Warrenstown to guide people away from that cursed M3 motorway and use the old route throught to Batterstown. I heard recently that the poxy motorway is falling apart, the surface is breaking up, good enough. Thats the start of the curse of Tara and long may it reign.
I have noticed their little shenanigans too, curiously using subtle devices to force you on to the tolled motorway. Traveller beware.
Like the idea of alternative signs though ;)
Press Release on behalf of the Tara Skryne Preservation Group. 26-8-10
A celebration of culture and heritage through poetry and music will be held at the Hill of Tara, Co Meath 3-5pm this Sunday 29th Aug. Headlining the 3rd Feis Teamhra event this year are prestigious
Poets including Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney, Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Muldoon and esteemed Writers Colm Tóibín and Michael Longley winners of countless literary awards. The musical contribution will be provided by foremost Irish Harper Laoise Kelly and Grammy Award winning Singer/ Songwriter Susan McKeown accompanied by Guitar Virtuoso Aidan Brennan.
Prior to the Feis Teamhra, many of these honoured guests will take part in a short Wreath Laying Ceremony at Collierstown Cairn which was erected by Tara campaigners in 2009 to commemorate those who were removed from their sacred burial grounds during excavations for the M3 Motorway. At Collierstown alone, it is estimated that over 62 remains including infants were disinterred and many more were removed along the route at other archaeological sites.
The Tara Skryne Preservation Group calls on the Irish Govt and the Director of the National Musuem of Ireland to reinter these remains in a dignified and respectful manner, as close as possible to their original places of burial. This call has been given the support of the World Archaeological Congress in Dublin 2008 who drew attention to the Vermillion Accord which states that “Respect for the mortal remains of the dead shall be accorded to all, irrespective of origin, race, religion, nationality, custom and tradition”.
TSPG would like to sincerely thank Colm Toibin, Paul Muldoon, Susan McKeown and Aidan Brennan in particular for their work in raising awareness of this issue.
Currently Tara campaigners have an online petition supporting the reburials which has nearly 2000 signatures including Actor Stuart Townsend, another prominent Tara campaigner, as well as approximately 5000 signatures which have been collected on the ground.
Le meas,
Carmel Diviney,
Secretary,
Tara Skryne Preservation Group.
And
Joanne Corbett,
Treasurer,
Tara Skryne Preservation Group.
The third Feis Teamhra was wonderful! About 150 people turned up to hear the best of Irish Poets and Musicians bring their talents to the Hill. Susan McKeown kicked things off with an old Gaelic song of praise to Brighid, Gabhaim Mlota Bhride followed by a song dedicated to Anne Lovett and her own mother. Her voice strong, pure and melodic, it was wonderful to see her back again at Tara. Paul Muldoon was Master of Ceremonies introducing each act win his light hearted humorous manner and brought us our first poet of the day, Seamus Heaney.
“Even though it may seem like a defeat for us in the last few years the name of Tara is still at the centre”, he said. He then recited Singer’s House to lift the spirits, followed by a poem in praise of Summer translated from ancient Gaeilc.
Our favourite Harper, Laoise Kelly followed next with tunes and airs including Planxty Wilkinson by O’Carolan. She told the crowd how Tara is the most important Hill in the country for Irish Harpers and how Baronstown associated with these musicians of noble rank, was destroyed under cover of the night to facilitate the Motorway. Laoise was followed by Michael Longley who said that we have been wounded by tar and concrete taking over in days of a cultural Altzheimers disease and launched into a beautiful poem in praise of the landscape and the past. He then treated us to another poem about a cottage, famous as a Ceille house and the ghosts of the people who used to come there.
Susan and Aidan came back with a song written by Susan set to a poem called The Nameless One and then Rivers which she dedicated to her daughter Roisin.
A native of Slane came up next introduced by Paul Muldoon with “ This is not a soapbox for activism, except when it is”. John Rodgers proceeded to tell the crowd about the proposed Slane By Pass and described it as an assault on the civilisation we are so proud of. The crowd erupted in agreement.
To lighten the mood Paul came back with a humorous poem entitled Julias Caeser Was a People Person which got the crowd laughing again, before he brought Laoise back with her fine rendition of SlieveNa mBan and a lively jig.
Colm Toibin was up next and read a contemporary account of the Daniel O Connell Monster Meeting at Tara where he protested against the unjust Union to a crowd of at least of 750,000 who had gathered there in support. It was amazing to listen to it. This was followed by Susan and Aidan again who sang a Woodie Guthrie song about survival called Gunna Get Through This World, it was really beautiful.
Paul returned once more and recited Wind and Tree to much applause before inviting Michael Longley back who recited a blessing on the sacred ground around us ,called Notebook from his next collection due out in March 2011.
Seamus Heaney gave us the final poem of the day, a recitation of Mad Sweeney’s Praise of the Trees and with that Laoise rounded up the event with a final tune, an ancient air specially dedicated to the Tara campaigners.
What a wonderful day, and the sun shone right through.
( Photos to follow)
Carmel
Pics
Newgrange Falconry Display
Laoise Kelly
Susan McKeown and Aidan Brennan
Rivers of music
Paul Muldoon
Pics
Seamus Heaney
Michael Longley
Paul Muldoon and Colm Toibín
Oration by Colm Toibín
Prior to the Feis Teamhra Paul Muldoon, Susan McKeown, Aidan Brennan and Colm Toibín were the very honoured guests of the Tara Skryne Preservation Group at a short wreath laying ceremony at Collierstown Cairn.
The Cairn was erected by Tara campaigners as a memorial to the ancestors who were removed from their sacred burial grounds there, and at other sites along the route of the Motorway.
TSPG wish to thank them sincerely for taking part today and for helping to raise awareness of our call to have the bodies reinterred as close as possible to their original burial place.
Group listen to history of Collierstown
Paul Muldoon, Susan McKeown, Róisín McKeown and Colm Toibín lay the wreath
Róisín adds her own personal tribute
Poignant reminder of a country gone mad
here:
http://s168.photobucket.com/albums/u167/muireanntemair/...pload
Carmel has given a wonderful description, well done on that. John Rodgers spoke about the ridiculous Slane bypass that will shine night time lights all over Knowth and Newgrange.
Muireann
That would be the same John Rodgers that was once the Attorney General and Fianna Fail guy. He never spoke out for Tara so I dont want to hear from him now. Why is he so concerned about the Slane By Pass ? Could it be that it will infringe on his own posterior garden? No, it must be about culture and heritage... but only around the by pass. Dont mention the War.
Appropriate pose
Beautiful piece on last nights 9pm news on the Feis Teamhra, link below.
This is a more accurate link to the piece on RTE-
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0829/9news_av.html?2810212,...l,230
Yes, that would be the same man ... not an FF man btw but a Labour Party man no less! Not a peep out of him about Tara you're right!
And yes, as far as we know the road runs quite close to his own backyard.
Slane and in favour of the bypass
Well thanks Slane for putting the political party straight on Mr Wodgers. I wonder how congenial he'd be to having the scruffy hippies living on his land. The Tara residents would breathe a sigh of relief I'm sure.
This page is about Tara so getting back to that, we have a video by Mark Cantwell of Sunday's Wreath Laying Ceremony at Collierstown to share.
Paul Muldoon described what he was told about Colliertown as " truly horrifying". Personally I was very touched by the piece at the end of the video where the little girl Róisín, lays more flowers which she picked herself on the Cairn and then skips off to catch up with the adults walking away- to the sound of cars roaring past this sacred spot. Very poignant.
Many thanks to Mark for his hard work and we look forward to seeing his documentary covering the last three years of the Campaign before Christmas.
Mark has given us a better link to the video and to the overall project and cautions that the Xmas time scale is best expectation as there is still a lot to do and there may be more to cover between now and then ;) Thanks Mark
Here's a suggestion for next year. There were about 150 people at the Feis Teamhra and we were very lucky with the weather but if it had gone the other way, there would have been a lot of very disappointed people who couldn't get in to the old church to enjoy the performances. The church has a very limited capacity. I'm sure the organisers could hire a marquee for future events...just in case.
It was a wonderful day, really wonderful.
Some photos from the excavations at link below.
Remains removed from Collierstown Sacred Burial Grounds. NRA photo