TaraWatch

Smithsonian magazine published an article in the March 2009 issue on the Hill of Tara being endangered by the M3 motorway, and included Tara in a list of 15 Must See Sites, before they disappear:

Endangered Site: The Hill of Tara, Ireland;  A new tollway threatens the archaeologically rich complex that is the spiritual heart of the country

Please write a letter to the editor of Smithsonian at  LettersEd@si.edu

IRISH NEWSPAPER STORIES

Here are related stories from Irish newspapers. Please write a letter to the editor of the papers.

Irish Times: Tara endangered, says Smithsonian
-  Write to lettersed@irishtimes.ie

Irish Independent:  Smithsonian puts Hill of Tara on list of endangered must-sees
-  Write to independent.letters@unison.independent.ie

Irish  News:  Seat of kings included in must-see endangered list
-  Write to letters@irishnews.com

Irish Examiner: Top US museum names Tara ‘must-see’ site
-  Write to letters@examiner.ie

Herald: Smithsonian joins fight to save the Hill of Tara
-  Write to herald.letters@independent.ie

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Hill of Tara makes Smithsonian endangered list

Irish Times – Breaking News   Last Updated: Friday, February 27, 2009, 12:33

PATRICK LOGUE

One of the most respected educational and research institutes in the United States, Smithsonian, has listed the Hill of Tara among the 15 must-see endangered cultural treasures in the world.   The Co Meath site, which was the ancient seat of the High Kings of Ireland, has been the subject of controversy with the nearby construction of the M3 road. Campaigners say the road will cut through one of Ireland’s most important historical sites, but the National Roads Authority says the new motorway will be further away from the hill than the existing route.

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A new tollway threatens the archaeologically rich complex that is the spiritual heart of the country

Endangered Site: The Hill of Tara, Ireland
Smithsonian magazine, March 2009
By Amanda Bensen

“The harp that once through Tara’s halls
The soul of music shed
Now hangs as mute on Tara’s walls
As if that soul were fled.”

The words of 19th-century Irish poet Thomas Moore still ring true, and the only music you’re likely to hear around Tara nowadays is the clang of construction equipment. Several hundred acres of gentle green fields, marked by some lumps and bumps, cover this patch of County Meath in northeast Ireland. A nice place to lie down and watch the clouds scud by, perhaps, but is it any more remarkable than the rest of Ireland’s lovely landscape?

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Campaigners urges M3 workers to strike

Sunday Tribune – February 22, 2009

CAMPAIGNERS seeking to have a controversial motorway rerouted have called on construction workers involved in the project to go on strike. Tarawatch urged builders working on the M3 motorway project to take industrial action over the 10% pay cut proposed by the Construction Industry Federation (CIF).  They said it was the flagship project for the CIF and that the move could also help focus attention on the ongoing conservation campaign.

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Irish Times – Cowen says NDP will not go ahead in current form
RTE News – National plan to be scaled back

PRESS RELEASE -  TARAWATCH-  7 February 2009

‘Call for Spending Freeze on All NDP Motorways, Including M3′

TaraWatch is calling for an immediate spending freeze on all National Development Plan (NDP) motorways, including the M3 and M2, now that the Plan will not go ahead in its current form.  Spending on all NDP motorway projects should be frozen immediately, including the bumper 1.5 billion Euro allocated to roads by Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey on 28 January, which included the M3 and M2 motorways in County Meath.

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Tara Group Calls On NDP ‘Rethink’
Irish Construction Industry News – 29/01/2009

Tara Hill protection pressure group, TaraWatch, has called on the government to radically redesign the National Development Plan (NDP), as public and private sectors prepare to begin discussions on how to revitalise the economy.  TaraWatch has demanded a new form of NDP, based on redevelopment, rather than development, in order to achieve sustainable economic development.

The group said focus should be shifted away from building “dozens of carbon-emitting motorways, facilitating urban sprawl, which cause climate change, and will hurt Ireland economically”. Existing roads and rail lines should be redeveloped, rather than new motorways being built, according to TaraWatch. The group also said new construction contracts under the NDP should be fixed-price, in order to prevent further state overspending.  TaraWatch recommended the government combines the M3 and M2, which are both currently being built five miles apart. The group said this could save one billion euros in construction costs, and encourage commerce by being toll-free.

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