PRESS
RELEASE
TARAWATCH.org
29 June 2008
'Outrage Over NRA
Archaeologist Expose On Tara/M3 High Court Case Evidence'
Tarawatch
member, Vincent Salafia, is seeking legal advice in response to the article
that appeared in today's Irish Mail on Sunday, which contains allegations
that the National Roads Authority (NRA) misled the courts, by falsifying
reports, which were used in a 2006 High Court case over the M3.
The
article quotes an academic paper by NUI Galway archaeologist, Maggie Ronayne,
which is to be presented to the Sixth World Archaeological Congress, which is
beginning in Dublin today. The Congress will be debating the ethics of the
Hill of Tara/M3 issue.
Maggie quotes an interview with Jo Ronayne, who
worked for an archaeological consultancy company, contracted to examine some
of the 38 sites. Jo claims: "A number of times I was told to change
an interpretation which served to lessen the potential or numbers
of sites." Not only were archaeologists forced to make false
statements, she claims, the NRA "edited our reports before the minister saw
them."
Salafia sued the Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, as well
as Meath County Council, and claimed that many of the 38 sites
discovered along the M3 between Navan and Dunshaughlin, were national
monuments, which they failed to report, and that the Minister should not
have granted licenses to excavate them.
Justice Tom Smyth (now
retired) ruled against Mr Salafia, in 2005, because the judge agreed with the
NRA archaeologists that none of the 38 sites were in fact national monuments,
and also that the greater Tara complex does not constitute a single national
monument. In his judgement, Justice Smyth stated:
"The Applicant
alleges that the County Council failed to report the discovery to the
Minister. (I reject this as an unfounded allegation as there was no national
monument and there was no failure having carried out the exploratory
test-trenching on the 38 sites...)"
Salafia lost the cause, and was
liable for 600,000 euros in damages, which effectively prevented him from
taking a Supreme Court appeal. The loss also resulted in the 38 sites being
excavated and demolished, and M3 construction works proceeding. He agreed to
withdraw his Supreme Court appeal, in exchange for the Government not
pursuing him for costs.
The loss also had a significant effect on Mr
Salafia personally, who was left liable for his own costs, which were also in
the hundreds of thousands of Euros.
The case also had an adverse
effect on his experts, such as Conor Newman, the new Chairman of the Heritage
Council, who had argued that certain sites were national monuments. His
professional opinion was scuppered by the Judge.
TaraWatch were
contacted by the World Archaeological Congress Standing Committee on Ethics on 5
June and identified as stakeholders in a round table discussion on the M3 and
the Hill of Tara, to be held at UCD, next week. TaraWatch was invited to submit
a position paper on the matter. That paper is now being amended, in response to
the revelations.
TaraWatch is also travelling to Quebec City for the 32nd
Meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, 2-10 July, to lobby on behalf of
Tara. We will lobby UNESCO to oppose the proposal of the Minister for the
Environment, John Gormley, to make Tara a World Heritage Site, with the M3
bisecting it, and insist that the M3 motorway is re-routed first.
Mr
Salafia of TaraWatch said today, in response to the article:
"I am
astonished by these revelations of evidence fabrication. They confirm what we
have suspected all along, but have never been able to prove. It appears that the
NRA lied about everything, misled the Courts, and are intentionally wrecking
Tara.
"I was accused of wasting the tax-payers money, when it now
appears NRA were wrongfully using tax-payers money, not just to destroy
our environment, but to destroy peoples lives.
"Legal advice is
immediately being sought, and we are calling for a full Dail investigation
into the affair. There may also be a possibility of vacating the judgement,
and suing for damages.
"Work should cease immediately on M3, and the
entire matter must be re-evaluated. While many of the national monuments are
gone, the M3 is still two years from completion, and should not be
completed through the middle of the Tara landscape.
"We call on John
Gormley, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, to
stand up and exercise his constitutional duty to protect our national
heritage, and to put an end to this scandal for once and for
all."
"These revelations are bound to have a major impact on UNESCO. We
are very optimistic that the UN will now find against the Irish Government in
this case, and that the European Commission will now seek an injunction, in
ongoing case against Ireland over the M3.
ENDS
|