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TARA: Cultural and political breakthrough

Hello again, Friends!
The past week was a busy time for champions of Tara, both in Ireland and abroad.

On the political front, it appears that Minster Gormley has decided to place a preservation order on parts of the current M3 route.
Dr. Muireann Ní Bhrolchain, spokesperson for the Campaign to Save Tara - www.savetara.com - had this to say:
"Got a tip off to say that the minister has now made this decision. Between Rath Lugh and Lismullin the NRA cannot move in that area now. A little light at the end of a tunnel. Maybe its not over yet? Maybe I was wrong to say that the road will go ahead? Fingers crossed again. Just as it feels that its over it starts again."

At the end of this update you'll find three sequential reports in the form of Press Releases from SaveTara.com and TaraWatch.org, and a report from the Irish Times.

On the cultural front, on Saturday afternoon, 22 Sept. a great gathering of the Harpists of Ireland, led by harper Laoise Kelly and harper / composer Anne-Marie O'Farrell, assembled at Dáil Éireann (Irish Parliament) "to demonstrate publicly the strength of their opposition to the destruction of historic cultural sites at the Tara/Skryne Valley as a result of the ill-chosen current route of the M3 motorway." They submitted a petition to Minister John Gormley insisting he take responsibility for the ongoing destruction of the valleys surrounding the Hill of Tara.

And, in addition, New York artists and supporters of the campaign to save Tara, led by singer Susan McKeown, gathered at the Irish Consul offices in New York, while in Los Angeles, writer Karin Wilson organised a free concert for Tara at the Martin Luther King Theatre in Santa Monica. Here is the website for the event:
http://www.cmh2.com/savetara-la/

If you have time, take a look at the short film I quickly pulled together for screening at the LA event on Saturday, documenting the visual history of the campaign to Save Tara. I've posted it onliine here: http://www.globalartscollective.org/acf/about.htm (be sure to refresh or reload if you've visited this site before).
Now that so many more wonderful images have become available, I'll expand upon this film format cataloging of the visual history of the campaign.

Over the weekend of 21 -23 September, renowned Northern California based harper Patrick Ball, along with his 16 year old daughter Fiona, distributed information handbills to huge audiences at the fabulous Sebastopol Celtic Festival in Sonoma County, Northern California.

On Sunday, 23 September two internationally renowned artists joined forces to create a spectacular event on the Hill of Tara: aerial artist John Quigley, and Irish actor Stuart Townsend, along with over 1500 people from across Ireland and beyond, gathered at the Hill of Tara to take part in a living human sculpture to call for the rerouting of the M3 away from the Tara Valley. See more details about the creation of this aerial photo shoot on the Irish Indymedia.ie link: http://www.indymedia.ie/article/84352
Here is a link to a terrific VIDEO recording of the event: http://youtube.com/watch?v=uKgQPFh5uvY

On Monday September 24th, thirty cultural conservationists donned face paints and headed off on a route walk from the Rath Lugh direct action site.
View video here: http://www.livevideo.com/video/EC28A617DF6749D4937D54CBFDF14406/harps-of-ireland-on-the-hill-o.aspx?m_tkc=7563473

And, on Saturday, 29 September, six simultaneous solidarity concerts for Tara were presented all around Ireland - in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Achill, Galway and Derry. Over sixty acts ranging from rock, trad, classical, and poetry have all joined in a huge awareness drive to "elevate public understanding of the cultural significance of the Tara/Skryne (Gabhra) valley and the many ancient sites within it that now face destruction by the (poorly chosen) impending M3, and to inform the interested public how they can help."

It seems the campaign to protect Tara is really taking off!
We need to pull ourselves together for another thrust of creative energy, if we are to succeed in what appears to be the final hurdles in this long campaign.
Just imagine the celebrations ringing around the world when we succeed in this massive effort to reroute the M3 double-tolled freeway away from the Tara / Skryne Valleys!

On Site: The perpetual vigil in the Gabhra Valley needs more people to attend on a daily basis.
Call the Vigil Phone; 086 1758557
Please leave a message, and they will get back to you.
And, all generous and big hearted lovers of Irish heritage need to write more letters to the Irish authorities, and to the media, and especially to the European Parliament Commissioner for the Environment: Stavros Dimas <stavros.dimas@europa.eu>
Thank him, and ask him to thank the other members of the illustrious EU Petition Committee for their sustained efforts on behalf of Tara.
More contact information here: http://www.globalartscollective.org/acf/act_now.htm

The following photo represents the culmination of the great gathering on the Hill of TARA on Sunday, 23 September.

Slán aChara!
Mairéid
Anam Cara for Tara arts action campaign
GlobalArtsCollective.org
http://www.globalartscollective.org/acf/about.htm

Copyright (c) Paula Geraghty

1/ PRESS RELEASE
Campaign to Save Tara
SaveTara.com

01 October, 2007

Minister places preservation order on Rath Lugh

The Campaign to Save Tara welcomes the decision of Minister John Gormley
to place a preservation order on Rath Lugh in the Gabhra Valley at Tara.
Rath Lugh is a defensive, promentary outpost of Tara and will be
severely impacted by the proposed route of the M3. The Campaign had
warned of the impending danger to the Rath in January when heavy
machinery was used to fell trees in the area between Lismullin and Rath
Lugh – before the NRA discovered that there was a national monument
there. This made visible the track of the motorway and its proximity to
the huge monument. The NRA were warned during the Oral Hearing of the
possible danger to the Rath.

The area under Rath Lugh is an esker consisting of sand and gravel
formed in the ice age, a very unstable substance on which to build such
a road.

Originally, the NRA maintained that the road would be 100metres away
from the Rath but recent surveys and work done by the NRA show that it
will be within 20metres – posing a serious threat to the stability of
the monument and the esker.

This development shows that the claims of those opposed to this route
were correct. There should never have been an attempt to drive a
motorway through this incredibly sensitive archaeological area – Tara’s
landscape.

M. Ni Bhrolcháin said: ‘The support for the Campaign is growing – this
was clearly demonstrated at the recent equinox event when 1,500 people
gathered to form a huge human harp on Tara for the international artist,
John Quigley. With climate change a frightening reality, it is madness
to persist in building motorways instead of public transport.’

For verification
Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin 087-9249510

Aerial photos of Rath Lugh (taken in April) to be found here: please credit Paula Geraghty
http://s168.photobucket.com/albums/u167/muireanntemair/April%20aerial%20shots/

2/
PRESS RELEASE

TARAWATCH.org

01 October 2007

'Minister Gormley Considering Placing Preservation Order on M3 Site'

John Gormley, Minister for the Environment, is currently considering placing a Temporary Preservation Order on Rath Lugh, a national monument being impacted by the M3 motorway, according to an email sent by his office last week to a campaigner. (see below)

This indiactes a major shift in policy by the Minister, who has claimed that no sites are being improperly interfered with, and that he has no power to act.

Mr Farrelly recently wrote to the Minister to complain that the national monument is being directly impacted, and that the land-take for the M3 had been expanded at the site.

According to the National Roads Authority, Rath Lugh is not being impacted. Their web site FAQ number 6 states:

6. Why locate the M3 where it will separate the site of Rath Lugh from Tara? http://www.m3motorway.ie/FAQ/#six <http://www.m3motorway.ie/FAQ/#six>

In the Discovery Programme publication 'Tara, an Archaeological Survey', Newman reinterpreted Rath Lugh, an RMP site which lies 2.5km to the north-east of Tara, as a defensive inland cliff-edge fort, rather than a ringfort. Newman (1997, 200-206) tentatively proposed that despite problems of classification and dating it was tempting to consider is as part of a defensive zone around Tara. Rath Lugh is today separated from Tara by the existing N3 and lies under dense vegetation and tree cover. It was not possible to route the M3 to the east of the site, instead it skirts the base of the elevated promontory on which Rath Lugh is located, approximately 20m below, and will not interfere with the site itself or the view of this site from Tara.

Under Section 4 of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act 1954, the Minister can place a Temporary Preseervation Order, for up to six
months: http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1954/en/act/pub/0037/sec0004.html

4.—(1) Where it appears to the Commissioners that a monument which in their opinion is a national monument is in immediate danger of injury or destruction the Commissioners may by order (in this Act referred to as a temporary preservation order) undertake the preservation of such monument.

Vincent Salafia of TaraWatch said: "This is a very significant statement from the Minister, who is telling members of the public that he is actively considering taking decisive
legal action on the M3.

"We know the EU Environment Commission are currently investigating Rath Lugh, and that the National Museum have expressed concerns about the
works there.

"Rath Lugh is being directly impacted, as we have told the Minister all along. We are delighted he now appears to be finally listening.

ENDS

Contact Vincent Salafia 087-132-3365
John Farrelly: 087-127-6829

EMAIL SENT BY MINISTER TO JOHN FARRELLY

27 September, 2007.

Mr. John Farrelly.

RE: REP2137/JG/07

Dear Mr. Farrelly,

I have been asked by Mr. John Gormley T.D., Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, to refer further to your recent correspondence in connection with the designation of Rath Lugh.

The position is that the Rath Lugh monument is listed on the statutory Record of Monuments and Places for County Meath (RMP Number: ME032-025). As such, it is afforded protection under the National Monuments Acts, whereby the Minister must by law be notified two months in advance of any proposed works at the site.

Rath Lugh is considered to be a national monument within the definition of section 2 of the National Monuments Act 1930 (as amended). It is understood that it is currently in the ownership of Coillte. The Minister is currently considering the placing of a Temporary Preservation Order on the monument.

I trust that this clarifies the position for you.

Yours sincerely,

____________
Eddie Kiernan,
Private Secretary

3/

Irish Times
Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Gormley makes order to protect fort near Tara
Frank McDonald, Environment Editor

Minister for the Environment John Gormley has used his powers under the
National Monuments Acts to make a temporary preservation order for Rath
Lugh, a prehistoric promontory fort associated with Tara alongside the
route of the M3 motorway.

Opponents of the controversial road scheme had claimed last January
that the tree-covered site - a designated monument - was being
"directly impacted" by preliminary levelling works carried out by the
motorway contractors, SIAC-Ferrovial.

"They were cutting further and further into it," according to Dr
Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin, of the Campaign to Save Tara. "Originally, the
NRA [ National Roads Authority] said the road was going to be 100
metres away from it, now it's 20 metres."

The Minister asked NUI Galway archaeologist and Tara expert Dr Conor
Newman to examine the site and it was on his recommendation that the
preservation order was made "to be absolutely sure that the monument is
protected", Mr Gormley said.

In making the temporary order, which could become permanent, he said he
was "acting in the best interests of heritage and also erring on the
side of caution. It was not a 'U-turn', as some have claimed, but
consistent with my approach since taking office."

Vincent Salafia, of Tara Watch, said yesterday the order to protect
Rath Lugh "indicates a major shift in policy by the Minister, who has
claimed that no sites are being improperly interfered with, and that he
has not power to act" in relation to the M3.

According to the NRA, Rath Lugh is not being impacted by the motorway,
which "skirts the base of the elevated promontory on which Rath Lugh is
located, approximately 20 metres below, and will not interfere with the
site itself or the view of this site from Tara".

Dr Ní Bhrolcháin noted that Rath Lugh is owned by Coillte Teoranta, the
State forestry company. "It was up to them to intervene at the planning
stage, but they didn't. At that stage, however, the motorway was to be
constructed 100 metres away from the site."

Welcoming the Minister's action, she said it showed that the claims
made by those opposed to the route were correct.

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