TaraWatch

Tara M3 questions to political parties

The Irish Times- 29 October 2008

TaraWatch has sent questionnaires to the political parties in advance of next year’s local and European elections asking them to outline their positions on the controversial M3 upgrading.

The parties are asked 10 questions, in particular whether they support the current route of the M3 or a route farther away from the Hill of Tara.

TaraWatch spokesman Vincent Salafia said it is considering fielding candidates if the response from the political parties is not sufficient.

PRE-ELECTION QUESTIONNAIRE

Please return answers to TaraWatch, Suite 108, Mary’s Abbey, D.7, or mail them to info@tarawatch.org, by Tue 4 November.

1. Do you agree that the M3 motorway being built through the Hill of Tara archaeological complex is damaging a site of national and international importance?

2. Do you agree that the M3 Public Private Partnership (PPP) contract is a bad deal for Irish taxpayers, as it will see the lions share of revenue go to a multi-national company, for the next 45 years?

3. Do you agree it is necessary to build four motorways going through County Meath, from the M50?

4. Do you agree that the approximately 16 billion euros over spend by the National Roads Authority on the roads programme in the National Development Plan (NDP), between 2000-2008, is the biggest waste of taxpayers money in the history of the State, that must be
investigated?

5. Do you agree with the European Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the NDP should be subjected to Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), before any more money is spent on it. If so, will you commission an SEA of the NDP, before allowing any
projects that are likely to have a significant effect on the environment, to proceed further?

6. Do you agree that a new cost-benefit analysis of Transport 21, and every single project within it, should take place before any further money is allocated?

7. Do you agree that reducing climate change gasses, due to transport, is a moral and economic imperative that must be addressed immediately?

8. Do you agree that alternatives to the current transport plan for Meath and Dublin need to be re-examined, in order to design more efficient alternatives?

9. Do you agree that the M3 should be re-routed, or cancelled, before Tara is made a UNESCO World Heritage Site?

10. If you enter Government will you ratify the UN Convention Against Corruption, which Michael McDowell promised, but failed to do?

11. If you enter Government, after the next Election, will you seek to have the M3 altered, in order to protect the Hill of Tara?

QUESTIONNAIRE COVER LETTER SENT TO POLITICAL PARTIES

Suite 108
The Capel Building
Mary’s Abbey
Dublin 7

Dear [Political Party]

Enclosed is a pre-election questionnaire, regarding the Hill of Tara and M3 motorway, designed to inform you of the current situation and give you an opportunity to clarify your position on the issue, in advance of the upcoming local and European elections, as well as any possible snap General Election. We will be publishing the results of the survey in one week, so please return the answers by 5:00pm on Tuesday, 4 November.

While your party took a certain position in the past, circumstances have changed somewhat since the last General Election. However, the core issue remains the same; the Hill of Tara archaeological landscape is being needlessly severed by construction of the M3 motorway, which is due to be completed in 2010. Recently, there have been false media reports that the M3 is a year ahead of schedule. In fact, the road was delayed over the summer because of rain, and contractors withdrawing from the project.

Tara is still very much a live issue both nationally and internationally, as it is listed as one of the 100 Most Endangered Sites in the world, by the World Monuments Fund (WMF), for the period 2008-2010. WMF listing is akin to UNESCO listing, making a statement of outstanding universal value, by an international expert panel. The fact that Minister Gormley has proposed that the Hill of Tara be made into a UNESCO site only highlights the need to find a solution now, as UNESCO may well require the M3 to be altered when they adjudicate on the matter in the next year or two, which will cost the taxpayers hundreds of millions more. This is currently the case at Stonehenge in England, where UNESCO is threatening sanctions unless the nearby motorways are moved.

The unanimous international condemnation of the M3 works has been again confirmed in the publication of a new travel book on 20 October called 500 Places to See Before They Disappear, by Holly Hughes. Tara is one of six Irish sites featured, and the author is clearly opposed to the works, summing up by saying, “Alternative routes have been proposed, but to no avail. The ghosts of the high kings must be weeping.” This concern has always been reflected in national opinion polls, which have consistently showed that 2/3 of Irish people want the M3 moved.

Nationally, the issue of spending on capital infrastructure came center-stage in the lead up to the Budget. While certain roads projects have been postponed, Transport 21, under the National Development Plan (NDP), is set to proceed, to the tune of 34 billion euros. We are attaching a copy of our pre-Budgetary submission to the Department of Finance, as well as a complaint to the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, regarding the waste of 16 billion of taxpayers’ money in overspending by the National Roads Authority (NRA), since the NDP began in 2000.

The submission shows how construction of the M3 motorway is a complete waste of taxpayers’ money, because it will cost taxpayers another 1.8 billion tolls and will also result in fines of 360 million euros over the 45 year tolling contract, which the taxpayer, not the construction companies of SIAC and Ferrovial must bear. There is simply no need for four motorways in Country Meath, and the M2 and M3 could still be combined into one road, as the extension of the M2 from Ashbourne is now in planning.

The submission also shows why the NRA has wasted so much money. They never performed Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) on Transport 21, as is required since the Directive was incorporated into the Planning and Development Act in 2004. Currently the European Commission is suing Ireland over this failure to subject the NDP 2007-2013 to SEA, and there is also a Supreme Court case pending, on the matter. This failure means that there has never been any real cost-benefit analysis done on the NDP, and that the costs of climate change have never been factored in.

Ferrovial, the Spanish construction company building the M3 was blacklisted in 2007, by the ethical investment group, GES Investments (who represent 200 billion in funds), for starting to build a motorway through a sensitive natural area of Poland. The road was halted. GES are currently holding an investigation into the M3, and may be issuing a statement shortly. Other scandals continue to surround the M3, as reports of intimidation of archaeologists and falsification of evidence by the NRA was made public this past summer. These claims have never been adequately investigated, but clearly undermine all court proceedings and presentations to the Oireachtas, which have relied on this evidence.

The Government has successfully ignored the concerns of Irish citizens, and the international community, for over five years now, but concern is only growing. There has never been any attempt at problem-solving or mediation, and instead demonstrators have been intimidated into silence by threat of criminal arrest, violence and incarceration, by Gardai and Ferrovial security. But the problem remains and opposition continues to swell.

Please review the questions, which are designed to inform as well as to enquire. The central issue is whether your party is going to promise to make a good faith effort to resolve the matter now, before it is too late. This is the last chance saloon for Tara to be saved from the M3, and for your party to add your voice and your power to the cause. Future, as well as present voters, will remember where you stood on this critical issue, and what sort of leadership you showed in resolving it.

Kind regards,

Vincent Salafia