One of Ireland's oldest intact round towers could suffer serious structural damage and be "diminished" as a national monument, if South Dublin County Council sanctions a proposed commercial development on the site, according to preservationists.
Some 1,200 people attended a rally in Clondalkin village yesterday in protest at the proposed development at the 8th-century round tower, the area's most famous historical landmark.
An application for planning permission for a bar/restaurant and apartments on a 0.4 acre site within metres of the tower was put before the council last week.
"The tower is acknowledged as one of the oldest and best preserved in the country. They are going to be excavating within 12 metres of it," Ms Bernardine Ní Giolla Phádraig, chairwoman of the local preservation group, Rally Round the Tower, said.
The group is seeking to have the site landscaped as a village park with a heritage centre in an adjoining protected cottage and intends to lodge an objection to the commercial development with the council before July 19th.
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