Sorry - this should have gone out as soon as we got back from the Causeway on Sunday

but the excitement the weather and a bug were too much and I went under so it never got written -

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It turns out we were on UTV on Saturday - sat outside the Green Party Conference - people at the market were telling me today , I hadnt realised

and for anyone - like me  - who missed it , I hope it was making the point that although it may not have been John Gormleys idea - he IS currently the Minister in whose care Heritage and Environment are supposed to be
- and so really he should be taking care of Heritage and Environment
- which he is not

That the argument that in Goverment the Greens are working on legislation so this can not happen " Again " is somewhat meaningless when something unique and irreplaceable is being destroyed

That Tara  is Important ..the destruction is Happening Now

That there are many precedents of a Government rethinking the decisions of their predessors

That he should be ordering a new Environmental Impact Assessment in the light of Changed  Circumstances

That the issues around Tara are entirely relevant to every single Green issue

And that asking for Tara to be declared a World Heritage Site - and the Gabhra valley into a National Park dedicated to Sustainable Development would be a good thing to do Environmentally - Culturaly - Spritually - and in the long run - Economically
...I dont expect all of that was on the 30 second TV clip though ; )

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Carmel Hanna ( SDLP MLA for South Belfast ) has tabled a motion to Stormont to protest the destruction to the Gabhra Valley and ask for support for Tara -

text " M3 Motorway, Boyne Valley - Private Members Bill - Northern Assembly

That this Assembly cherishes historical heritage; expresses its opposition to the proposed route of the M3 Motorway in the Boyne Valley, which will despoil the historic site of Tara and other national monuments in this area; and calls on the Minister of the Environment to liaise with her Ministerial counterpart in the Republic of Ireland, with a view to revisiting plans and presenting an alternative route, which will win acceptance among all interested parties."

 

more info from http://www.indymedia.ie/article/86297  

 

 there is NO reason that any Party should not support this - to say that it is a Cross-Community campaign is true but -- - of COURSe it is !

it is about preserving a history from before any idea of " two communities " was ever thought of

It is both All-Ireland

All - These - Islands

Cross-Border and Cross-Water

Tara does NOT belong to Meath County Council any more than the statues of the Buddha at Bamiyan belonged to the Taliban
and the Irish Government is already being taken to court by the EU for failing to protect her own Heritage

It doesnt OWN it ! - it belongs also to all these Islands - Europe and to the World and is irreplaceable

   " We Do Not Inherit Earth From our Ancestors - we Borrow it from Our Children "

 ........   but we do need to write to MLAs to put this case .... to newspapers etc as well - and generally to spread the word around -

also to point out the benefits to Tourism  North and South that the proposed Meath Heritage Park ( inc Tara and Boyne valley / Battle of Boyne site ) would bring

 we dont have a date yet for when this will be heard - we need to lobby NOW

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The Sunday 17th Day of Solidarity went wonderfuly well ; ) ---- although small in numbers - and not of course to plan

Ive written up something about it on
http://www.tarataratara.net/Tara_Blfst._OisinsGrave.htm

and hopefully it will be part of a film - but whether it will or not - it was a fabulous day
; )

A few of us met at the cafe at the Black Box on Wednesday - and we have decided to do this again
that is - to go out to various places around the North with Historical connections of various kinds to Tara

Partly as a kind of Spiritual Journey
but we hope to document it in some way and use it in some way to give support to the Campaign to protect Tara
by researching and highlighting the Spiritual and Historical connections to the North

... ....we do have ideas ....but all Input is very welcome ....

In practical terms what we will do is gather outside St Annes Cathedral at 11 am on Sundays - and get as many people as possible into as many cars as we have - and - just go

This Sunday it will be to Downpatrick - next ...? who knows ...?
as usual - NO idea what we will do there - but we are busy researching .....

Oh - all are welcome to join us ..especially if you have a car ! - if not we will do what we can to sqeeze you in to someone else's though of course we cant promise - we will try

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re/ we would like to do more - a concert - something Theatrical and/or a ceremony at Dunseverick ( Dun Sohairce ) - or perhaps at the Causeway

We can probably gather musicians poets actors etc - some are offering - but realistically we would need someone capable of co-ordinating this

...anyone any ideas ..?

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Oh - I have resigned from the role of Organiser of the TaraBelfast Solidarity Group - or would have - if there was any Organised group to resign TO

...this is unlikely to make much difference

              .....  as we still exist - and we are still going toDownpatrick on Sunday   8-)

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possibly a protest in Dublin on Monday - if so details will be on the www.tarawatch.org site
and go up onto the front page of http://www.tarataratara.net

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there is a heap of things happening at and to Tara at the moment - if I try to explain it all then this update will never go out

and it is overdue already as there will be a Belfast Tara meeting - of some kind
tommorow ( Saturday )at St Georges market

meeting at the Mullans Organic Farm stall at 2pm
.... and then probably finding a quietish table at the side of the market

but more info re / what is going on at Tara from the usual sources

http://www.savetara.com
http://www.tarawatch.org
http://www.indymedia.ie  and search for " Tara "

specifically at the moment  http://www.indymedia.ie/article/86349

and http://www.tarataratara.net  which is my site and where anything specific to the North will most likely go

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and the usual - this list is a mixture of people who asked to be on it and some people I just knew anyway - please do let me know if you dont want to be on it and Ill take you straight off

or if you know anyone who might be interested - please send it to them

...or if someone sends you this and you DO want to be on the list - just let me know

hope everyone enjoyed the eclipse ; ) and hope to see some of you either tommorow or on Sunday

xxx
Anita