From SALON - an interesting development from the Tara posting below.
"Irish Minister for the Environment John Gormley says he is to review how the State protects its national heritage following the controversy over the planned construction of the M3 motorway over historic landscapes near the Hill of Tara. Mr Gormley said that Tara and ‘similar controversies’ of recent years raised the ‘valid question’ as to whether the current measures to protect archaeological and natural landscape in Ireland are adequate. ‘I agree with bodies such as the Heritage Council who have said that we do need enhanced measures. Therefore in the coming weeks I will begin a consultative process in order to bring forward a new National Landscape Strategy.’ However, he insisted he had no legal power to review the decision of his predecessor Dick Roche on the route of the motorway, and said that he had received ‘unequivocal’ advice from the Attorney General that it ‘is not open to him to review, or amend, the directions given by his predecessor in this case’.
The announcement from Mr Gormley comes after an undesignated ‘multi-period archaeological complex’ dating from the Bronze Age was destroyed by bulldozers during the night of 4 July 2007 to prevent road construction being held up. The Campaign to Save Tara group said the site had been recommended for designation by archaeologists working on the M3 project but former environment minister Dick Roche had rejected the application."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment