Campaigners against the removal of part of the medieval Carrickmines Castle in south Co Dublin have threatened a lawsuit against the Minister for the Environment.
Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council applied to the Minister, Mr Cullen, last month for consent to remove a medieval fosse (stone ditch) to make way for part of the M50 motorway.
The application followed a Supreme Court ruling in February that the Council would have to seek consent under the National Monuments Acts for the removal of archaeological remains on the site.
But the Carrickmines Castle Preservation Group said today if the Minister granted such consent, it would be challenged in the High Court.
Carrickmines campaigner Mr Vincnet Salafia said the Council's application to the Minister was "a subversive attempt to circumvent the Supreme Court Judgment.
"Ironically, by it's very nature, the application confirms that Carrickmines Castle is in fact a national monument," he added.
Mr Salafia and another campaigner, Mr Steven Devaney, will unveil an alternative plan to removing the ditch later today.
