Campaigners turn up heat over Tara road

Opposition to proposed motorway along historical site continues
by David Lynch
See http://tarawatch.org/
Campaigners opposed to a new motorway route via the Tara Valley, have shelved plans to form a new political party. TaraWatch has told Daily Ireland it wants opposition parties to ?come out clearly against the road?. ?

We are particularly happy with the clear stance taken by the Green Party and Sinn Féin against the road,? said TaraWatch spokeswoman Siobhán Rice. ?However, we also want clear statements from Labour and Fine Gael. ?

We are a bit worried about where Labour have been standing on the issue lately. ?We have been worried that they are sitting on the fence.? However, TaraWatch welcomed news that Labour MEP Proinsias De Rossa is to meet the European Union petitions committee and that ?Tara and the M3 motorway is on the agenda?.

?We want all opposition parties to come together and make Tara a real election issue. You do not really get much bigger issues than this. ?Tara has been compared to the Valley of the Kings in Egypt and other such sites. ?This is something that everyone who cares about our heritage should be worried about,? Ms Rice said. She also called for ?independent archaeologists? to be brought onto the route of the proposed motorway.

TaraWatch is campaigning to ?save the Tara archeological complex?. The group wants changes to the planned route for the M3 motorway that will connect Cavan and Dublin. At a protest outside Leinster House last week, the leading TaraWatch member Vincent Salafia mooted the idea of forming a new party. He said TaraWatch was considering doing this if the mainstream parties did not make Tara an election issue.

TaraWatch said yesterday that the ?strong showing of support from the Green Party, Sinn Féin and the Labour Party, as well as independent Oireachtas members, partly as a result of the protest, has negated the need for such a move?.

Ms Rice said, ?We are delighted to see this clear showing of support and look forward to engaging in meaningful, constructive discussions with opposition parties, including Fine Gael, over the summer. ?We hope to find a solution that can best protect our heritage and deliver badly needed relief for the commuters of Meath.

?Mr Salafia has indicated that he may be willing to withdraw his Supreme Court appeal if the matter is handed over to consultants for an independent third-party assessment, which could be performed in a few short months.


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