TaraWatch

EU PRESS RELEASE: Ireland: Commission to bring environmental impact assessment case to the European Court of Justice
Irish Independent: Court action fails to halt work on incinerators
Irish Times: Gormley defends Ireland’s record on heritage sites
RTE News: Legal action from Europe on monuments (Video)
RTE Morning Ireland: Jamie Smyth, Irish Times, says the European Commission will discuss Ireland’s lack of protection for archaeological sites (audio)
Press Association: Tara campaigners vow court action
Ireland.com: EU to take legal action over Tara
Evening Echo: Tara campaigners promise new High Court action
Irish Independent: EC to begin action against Ireland over Tara motorway
Evening Echo: Cuffe welcomes EU’s court action on Tara

EU to take action over handling of Tara route for M3

The Irish Times
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Jamie Smyth in Brussels

The European Commission is expected to begin legal action against the Government today over the manner in which it has proceeded to build the M3 motorway near the Hill of Tara.

The decision will provide a boost to campaigners who are trying to force Minister for the Environment John Gormley to consider re-routing the motorway.

The legal move is not expected to halt the construction of the road, but it will force the Government to defend its position at Europe’s highest court, a process that could eventually lead to the imposition of fines if it loses the case.

Environment commissioner Stavros Dimas will tell his commissioner colleagues at a meeting in Brussels today that the National Monuments Act in the Republic does not offer enough protection for important archaeological sites.

He will also highlight alleged weaknesses in Irish law that split decision-making between Irish planning authorities and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for industrial projects.

He cites the Government’s action at the Hill of Tara as a prime example of how it fails to conform to EU law. In a draft decision, which requires the approval of commissioners before taking effect, Mr Dimas refers Ireland to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over these shortcomings.

“The commission considers Ireland’s approach to decisions involving the destruction or removal of historic structures and archaeological monuments to be in contravention of the directive,” says an explanatory note on the decision seen by The Irish Times.

The relevant EU directive says there must be a proper assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment.

The commission believes a decision not to order a second environmental impact assessment when a potentially significant archaeological site was discovered at Lismullen, close to Tara, was “in contravention of the directive”.

“Because the prehistoric site was only identified in 2007, its significance could not be taken into account in a 2003 assessment of the motorway project,” says the commission’s explanatory note.

Despite the EU executive’s concerns, in June the Government ordered that the Lismullen site be excavated without a second environmental impact assessment. It said no delay was possible due to the fragile nature of the site.

But campaigners hoping the commission would intervene directly to force the Government to halt construction of the M3 may be disappointed. The draft commission decision refers only to weaknesses in Irish legislation and does not question the Government’s choice of route for the M3. Neither does it seek any kind of court injunction that would force the Government to stop work on the motorway.

The Government has argued that the motorway is a vital piece of national infrastructure and choosing an alternative route for the M3 would cause delays and cost up to €200 million extra.

Campaigners have fought a vocal campaign against the motorway, which they claim will spoil the Hill of Tara for future generations.

The commission document claims that when decisions are being taken on proposed incinerators and other industrial projects, “Irish rules do not guarantee that interactions such as those between pollution-control measures and the landscape will be adequately assessed and taken into account.There are risks that outcomes required by the directive will not always be achieved,” it concludes.

The commission decision to start legal action will force the Government to defend its position at the ECJ in Luxembourg.

If it loses the legal case and does not amend its laws to conform with the relevant EU directive, it could eventually face heavy fines.

Ireland currently faces 37 infringement proceedings for breaching environmental directives.

EU decision due soon on challenge to Tara motorway

The Irish Times
Jamie Smyth in Brussels

Thursday, 4 October 2007

The European Commission is expected to decide this month whether to take legal action against the Government over plans to build a motorway near Tara.

A senior commission official told the European Parliament’s petitions committee yesterday the commission was analysing the Government’s response to its concerns about the construction of the M3. He said the commission had expressed concern for some time to the Government that the National Monuments Act did not adequately protect sites of archaeological significance in the Republic.

The commission wants the Government to amend the Act and undertake a second environmental impact assessment at an archaeological site at Lismullin, close to Tara. But the Government insists that under Irish legislation it only has to undertake one assessment.

“The commission should be able to make a decision on legal action later this month,” Liam Cashman, an official with the EU’s environment directorate, told MEPs in Brussels, who were discussing a report on their fact-finding mission to Ireland.

This report called for a substantial review of the environmental impact of the M3 on the Hill of Tara and for less intrusive alternative routes to be designated.

“The delegation is, however, perplexed by the choice of the route and by the damage done to the integrity of the many sites in the Tara area and the Gabhra Valley which have been vividly drawn to our attention by our petitioners,” says the 20-page report, which will be sent to the commission and the Government. Mr Cashman said he considered the report to be “very valuable” and “balanced”.

If the commission started legal action, the Government would be forced to defend its position at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg. If it lost the case and refused to amend national law to conform with EU laws, it could face heavy fines.

Labour MEP Proinsias de Rossa said he had been informed by the commission that the National Monuments Act was in breach of EU law. He said it was under this Act that the Department of the Environment had sanctioned the demolition of an archaeological site at Lismullin.

Independent MEP Kathy Sinnott also criticised the Government for “ploughing ahead” with the M3 motorway despite the concerns of petitioners. But she welcomed the role that the petitions committee had played in bringing attention to the important issue of Tara.

The committee has no formal power to force governments to take action but focuses attention on issues affecting individual citizens. It can also ask the commission to investigate matters, a process that can lead to formal cases being brought to the ECJ.

Yesterday the committee closed one Irish petition related to eligibility to a state aid scheme granting educational assistance to farmers from disadvantaged areas.

John O’Malley had challenged a condition of the scheme, that farmers must live within 70km of an educational establishment. Following the petitions committee inquiry, the Government changed the criteria.

Rath Lugh, Sept. ’07. (c) Paula Geraghty

RTE Morning Ireland: Richard Dowling reports on preservation order (Audio)
RTE News: Temporary preservation order at Tara (Video)
Evening Echo: Gormley signs order to protect monument near Tara
Irish Independent: Gormley signs order to protect monument near Tara
Meath Chronicle: Temporary protection order placed on monument
PRESS RELEASE by Minister Gormley

Gormley makes order to protect fort near Tara

The Irish Times
Frank McDonald, Environment Editor

Tuesday, 2 October 2007

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.