TaraWatch

TV3 News – M3 motorway opens in Meath
RTE News – Controversial M3 opens ahead of schedule
Irish Times – M3 motorway officially opens
Irish Examiner – Tóibín attacks construction of ‘shameful’ M3
Irish Independent -  Toibin condemns M3 in Co Meath
Press Association, (UK) – Toibin condemns M3 in Co Meath

Meath motorway officially opens

The Irish Times – Breaking News – 4 June 2010

RONAN McGREEVY in Navan

The new M3, the biggest and most controversial road project in the history of the State, was opened this morning. Protesters were kept well back from the ribbon-cutting ceremony which was carried out on a stretch of the motorway between Navan and the Athboy interchange.  The tolled motorway will bypass Dunshaughlin, Kells and Navan, which have been three of the worst bottlenecks in Ireland for decades. Along with 60km of motorway, there will be 35km of side roads, 15km of link roads and a four kilometre N52 bypass of Kells. Security was tight for the opening and it was by invitation-only.

Protesters were allowed no further than the Athboy interchange which is about two kilometres from where the opening took place.  The guests included representatives from the Spanish-based company Ferrovial who were one of the companies involved in the construction. There were also Garda checkpoints at the entrance to the opening ceremony, and a Garda helicopter monitored the movement of protesters from above. The M3 which will connect Clonee to near the Cavan-Meath border has been dogged by controversy since it was first proposed in 1997.

Campaigners fought a long and ultimately fruitless battle to stop a section of the motorway being built near the Hill of Tara, but the Government argued that the new motorway was actually further away from the hill than the existing N3. Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said it was a historic day for a county steeped in history. The Meath TD said the people of Dunshauglin, Navan and Kells will now get their town back and his only regret was that the motorway had not been built sooner.  The chairman of Meath County Council, Cllr William Carey, said he understood that some people were upset that important archaeological remains were disturbed, but he was convinced that the least intrusive route was taken.

Irish writer Colm Tóibín said the desecration of the landscape around Tara was shameful, short-sighted and beyond belief. “In a time when Ireland needs places which have a sacred aura and a special beauty more than ever, it is sad to see those who have misruled our country ganging up on our heritage,” he said.

Vincent Salafia, of TaraWatch, said activists have been completely vindicated in their campaign against the route of this road. “The majority of Irish people, including most of our leading artists, as well as the EU and the major international archaeological bodies, have condemned it.The same reckless disregard for ethics, rights and regulation that brought down the economy, was employed to bulldoze this road through,” he said. The motorway opened to traffic at 4pm today. There are tolls at Dunshaughlin and Clonee and one at Grange between Navan and Kells. The cost will be 1.30 for each toll.

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PRESS RELEASE- TARAWATCH

04 June 2010 ‘

Colm Tóibín Joins Condemnation of M3 Motorway

Leading Irish writers, Colm Tóibín, yesterday condemned the construction of the M3 motorway, through the Hill of Tara landscape and archaeological complex. He has joined the long list of celebrities and artists, including Seamus Heaney, Paul Muldoon, Louis le Brocquy, Jim Fitzpatrick, Robert Ballagh, and the Chieftains, who have condemned the M3 motorway, along with arts group Aosdána. Speaking from Kerry where he is Chairman of the Listowel Writer’s Week Mr. Tóibín said:

“The desecration of the landscape around Tara is shameful, short-sighted and beyond belief. In a time when Ireland needs places which have a sacred aura and a special beauty more than ever, it is sad to see those who have misruled our country ganging up on our heritage.’

His words echo those of Seamus Heaney, who told BBC in March 2008: “If ever there was a place that deserved to be preserved in the name of the dead generations from pre-historic times up to historic times up to completely recently – it was Tara.” He called the M3 a “ruthless desecration”, and said: “I think it literally desecrates an area – I mean the word means to de-sacralise and for centuries the Tara landscape and the Tara sites have been regarded as part of the sacred ground.”

While the M3 motorway is opening today, the controversy will continue for years to come:

- The European Commission is currently taking a case against Ireland, in the European Court of Justice, for breach of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive, due to the decision of Dick Roche to demolish the Lismullin national monument, in Tara.

- Tara is being nominated to UNESCO to be a World Heritage Site, this July. Professor George Eogan, Professor Emeritus of Archaeology at UCD has said it is likely that UNESCO will not be pleased that a motorway has been just opened in the middle of the very site they are being asked to protect.

- Tara was placed on the List of 100 Most Endangered Sites by the World Monuments Fund (WMF) in 2006, and other international organisations, such as the Smithsonian Institution, the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), Sacred Sites International, and the World Archaeological Congress (WAC).

- The Heritage Council is piloting the Tara Skryne Landscape Conservation Area, which covers a large area around Tara, and will place planning restrictions on both sides of the motorway. which are being challenged by local Fianna Fail councillors. Public consultation ends Wed 16 June.

- Finally, a human rights complaint is being prepared for the UN, which will detail the the litany of human rights abuses that have facilitated the construction of the M3.

Matt Schwoebel head of the 2048 Project at University of Berkeley law school, California, who was detained by Immigration officials at Dublin Airport and sent back to the US last November, said yesterday: “The human right to heritage sites of particular historical and religious significance is recognized in international law.

“These special places are inextricably connected to how people define themselves as communities and families. “The response by the government and police forces to the concerns of people raised during the protests are also of particular concern, and should be rectified accordingly.” The complaint will be presented to the UN and UNESCO this summer.

Vincent Salafia of TaraWatch said:

“We have been completely vindicated in our campaign against the route of this road. The majority of Irish people, including most of our leading artists, as well as the EU and the major international archaeological bodies, have condemned it.

“The same reckless disregard for ethics, rights and regulation that brought down the economy, was employed to bulldoze this road through.

“The real kicker is yet to come, when traffic levels will show that the taxpayer will start paying millions of euros every year to the toll company, because of traffic fails to meet the traffic guarantee which was secretly written into the M3 contract by the NRA.

ENDS Contact: Vincent Salafia 085-192-7032 / Laura Grealish 087-972-8603

Group critical of M3 traffic use

The Irish Times - Tuesday, June 1, 2010

A group which opposed the construction of the M3 road has said the taxpayer is facing a bill of €1.3 million per annum because insufficient traffic will use the new motorway. The 61 kilometre M3 officially opens on Friday but Tara Watch spokesman Vincent Salafia said revenue from two tolls on the road scheme will not meet income targets. Tara Watch says the NRA through the taxpayer expects to pay Eurolink a minimum of €1.3 million in the first year due to a predicted 3,250 vehicle a day shortfall.

PRESS RELEASE – TARAWATCH

31 May 2010

NRA Expects to Pay Millions in Shadow Tolls to M3 Toll Company from Opening Day

The National Roads Authority (NRA) expects the M3 motorway to lose money, from the very first day of opening, 4 June. Taxpayers will spend millions in ‘shadow tolls’ or direct payments to the Public Private Partner (PPP), Eurolink (SIAC & Ferrovial) due to a confidential ‘˜minimum traffic guarantee’ in the 45 year contract.

According to the NRA’s own figures the M3 will, “on opening”, have traffic volume of “approximately 22,000 vehicles daily”, which is 3,500 vehicles below the NRA’s threshold for shadow tolls of 25,250.  Fred Barry, Chief Executive Officer of the NRA, revealed that the threshold for shadow tolling is 25,250 vehicles a day at a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport on“ 18 November 2009, saying:

“The level of traffic guarantee set out in the PPP contract for the initial year of operation is a combined total for the two plazas of 25,250 vehicles per day. If the traffic levels are 25,000 and the debt level thresholds are contravened, the concessionaire would receive an additional payment of approximately €100,000. If the traffic levels are 35,000 no additional payment arises.”

This means that the NRA expects to pay Eurolink a minimum of €1.3 mil, in the first year of operation, due to the predicted 3,250 vehicle a day shortfall, adding up to approximately €60 mil over the life of the contract. This could rise significantly if traffic levels do not reach 22,000. TaraWatch is predicting that traffic levels will be 10,000 – 15,000, meaning a total cost of approximately €180-240 mil, over the 45 yr life of the contract, based on a number of factors:

1. Current traffic volumes on the existing N3, which will remain open and free, were between approximately 14,000 and 16,000 last year, according to the NRA traffic counter statistics.
2. HGVs will avoid M3 tolls, by using the existing road, as was indicated by the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) in a statement on Wed, 26 May.
3. The M3 will have low cross-border through traffic, as is ends in Virgina, Co. Cavan.
4. Meath has been the hardest hit county in terms of job losses, due to the recession.

Vincent Salafia of TaraWatch said:

“Our campaign has been completely vindicated. Not only is the European Commission taking legal action against Ireland, which could result in massive fines for illegally demolishing national monuments at the Hill of Tara, but the road is an economic black hole for the taxpayer.

“The Government knew the M3 was economically non-viable, which is why they got special permission from the European Commission for shadow tolling, without informing the public.  This is actually triple-taxation, when you add it on top of road tolls and vehicle tax, for a road that completely unnecessary, since it is only 5 miles from the proposed M2.  The NRA has conceded that it is not a matter of ‘if’ the M3 will lose money; it is a question of ‘how much?’.

ENDS
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