Postpone building M3 at Tara, says Rabbitte

The Government will face years of delays if it attempts to push ahead with the construction of the M3 motorway near the Hill of Tara, Co Meath, warned the Labour Party leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte.

The party will tonight move a Private Members' Bill in the Dáil urging the Government to postpone its construction and instead bypass major towns including Navan and Dunshaughlin.

Mr Rabbitte said the M3 route should be reviewed by the National Roads Authority. "Taking that approach would take years off the expected time-scale of the project. If the Government digs its heels in, it will be their fault if the M3 project takes years longer than necessary."

The motorway is of "critical importance to tens of thousands of Meath residents who commute to Dublin every day", he told a meeting of Labour's Carlow/Kilkenny constituency organisation.

"They commute on roads that are not up to the task, through towns that are logjammed by heavy traffic for 12 hours of every day. The Government has effectively directed the National Roads Authority to solve this problem by ramming a highway through the concerns of people, very close to the Hill of Tara.

"The Hill of Tara is an important national monument, a treasure trove of our Celtic past, and a major national tourist attraction - indeed I understand it is one of the three best-known and most-visited archaeological and historical sites in the country, in addition to Newgrange and the Rock of Cashel.

"Tara will be fiercely defended against the proposed desecration by supporters from all over the country, and indeed the world, and the result will inevitably be that the much-needed transport relief will be held up in years of litigation.

On the Government, he said: "It has become ever more incompetent, ever more dishonest, as its years in office have grown. If they complete their term this time, and if by some miracle they were re-elected, we would be looking at a quarter of a century of virtually unbroken Fianna Fáil rule.

"I strongly believe that such an outcome will never be contemplated by the Irish people, and I use this opportunity, once again, to repeat my insistence that our primary task must be to prevent that from happening.

"That incompetence was again evident on Thursday, when the Book of Estimates was published without a public capital programme. This is unheard of in recent years.

"What it means is that, five weeks before Christmas, the Government is unable to publish its plans for capital spending. What the Book of Estimates did tell us was that capital investment has been going backwards."