Tara route 'bordering on vandalism' - Haughey

The new chairman of the Oireachtas Environment Committee, Mr Seán Haughey, has said that plans to route the M3 motorway through the Tara/Skryne valley in Co Meath was "bordering on vandalism" against one of the most important historic sites in the country.

The Fianna Fáil TD, who was appointed to head the committee last week, has said he believed the road should be rerouted, and that he planned to visit the site along with members of the committee next month.

He is the first Government TD to state his opposition to the current route, and to back a group of environmentalists and archaeologists campaigning against the route.

They have argued that the Hill of Tara, once the seat of the High Kings of Ireland, and the surrounding area, is one of the most historically important sites in the country and of international importance.

Mr Haughey said his committee intended to hold hearings in the coming weeks into the controversy, and would be seeking submissions from all interested parties, including the National Roads Authority (NRA), which chose the current route.

"I am attempting to be as objective about it as possible," Mr Haughey told The Irish Times. "But I'd certainly be concerned about the proposed route at this point in time. It would seem to me that a rerouting would be desirable, but I'm going to keep a reasonably open mind until the site visit."

Mr Haughey believed other proposed routes, which would have avoided the valley, should now be considered.

"I think that an alternative route would be less intrusive on the whole hinterland of the Tara and Skryne Valley," he said.

"It's of primary archaeological importance. It does appear to be bordering on vandalism having regard to what is being proposed."

The NRA said these routes, which were less damaging to the valley, were ruled out because of their inability to deliver adequate traffic capacity, and the negative impacts on local communities and the environment as a whole. It said the current route had been approved by An Bord Pleanála, following a 28-day public hearing.

A total of 42 archaeological sites have been found along the section of the proposed motorway, which passes through the valley.

The Minister for the Environment, Mr Roche, is to decide in the coming weeks on whether to issue licences to allow the current route to proceed through the archaeological sites. He has received a series of reports on the sites from the NRA and is currently consulting with expert staff in his Department and at the National Museum. He has the power to issue a direction to force the NRA to reroute around the sites.

Earlier this month, the Taoiseach, while accepting there was a view that the proposed road could affect the Skryne valley, said it would not be damaging to the Hill of Tara.