Madam, - As someone who strives to be a competent archaeologist in my working and academic life, I have observed the increasingly hysterical and irrational debate on the M3, Lismullen, Tara, etc with increasing anger and bewilderment. Significantly, the voice of the contract archaeologist appears to be lost in it all.
The site of Lismullen was declared a national monument after it was identified as a rare type of hengiform enclosure by the archaeologists working on site and the NRA archaeologists charged with managing the project. That it had not been identified prior to full-scale soil-stripping of that stretch of road is not unusual as the ephemeral nature of the remains rendered it difficult to pick up on geophysical surveys or in slot test-trenches.
The declaration of the site as a "national monument" has been inaccurately portrayed in the current debate as the discovery of a substantial, upstanding site. The signing of the ministerial order by Dick Roche to allow excavation to take place has been described as allowing "destruction of the monument", which will be subsequently "paved over" by the road. This is completely to misunderstand the nature of sites such as Lismullen.
Firstly, the site - i.e. the structure itself, whatever it was - is long gone, possibly not long after its original use. Subsequent centuries of ploughing have reduced the impressions left by the driving of stake and posts into the ground to less than 30cms of stratigraphy. This is not in any way to diminish the site's importance but simply to emphasis how fragile the remains are.
Secondly, the fact that it was discovered and identified at all is a testament to the skill of the archaeologists involved, informed by the fact that sites like this have been excavated in the past. Since its declaration a few weeks ago, and while former Minister Roche contemplated his options, the site has been covered in plastic but otherwise exposed to the elements.
Whether it was set aside for future excavation in the event of the road being re-routed, or excavated now in advance of the road going ahead, only excavation could actually allow for proper preservation of the remains of this site.
I have heard the term "preservation by record" described as "Orwellian" language simply meaning destruction. This is nonsense. Excavation, or "preservation by record", is critical to archaeology and our developing understanding of the past. How do people think archaeologists carry out the bulk of their work other than by identifying sites through survey and excavation and analysing the findings at post-excavation stage? Contrary to the impression created by many contributors to this debate, the knowledge gained from excavations in advance of road and pipeline construction over the past 15 years has fundamentally altered our views of past landscape and societal change. That is how it should be. Archaeology by definition means pursing or acquiring "knowledge of the past".
This is the important positive to be taken from the impact of recent infrastructural developments on our archaeological heritage, a point continually missed by sections of the media, politicians, academia and protesters, who only see the negative.
- Yours, etc,
EILEEN REILLY, Environmental Archaeologist, Richmond Road, Dublin 3.
Madam, - Dick Roche's scorched earth policy regarding Tara in his final hours as Minister for the Environment has precipitated a crisis for his successor, John Gormley, and undermined Ireland's credibility as a guardian of our European heritage. While it may appear that Mr Gormley has been rendered powerless to change decisions signed and sealed by his predecessors - Noel Dempsey, Martin Cullen and, or course, Dick Roche - the National Monuments (Amendment) Act 2004 does provide the Minister with unprecedented discretionary powers and it remains to be seen if these extend to reversing previous ministerial directives.
Failing this, however, the ultimate discretionary power must lie with the Taoiseach. Surely in such circumstances Bertie Ahern is honour-bound to intervene in the national interest to protect Tara, our foremost national monument, and salvage what little now remains of our national dignity.
- Yours, etc,
JOE FENWICK, Department of Archaeology, NUI Galway.
Madam, - Minister for the Environment John Gormley supports the idea of imposing penalty points for littering from a car. What penalties, then, should be given for driving a motorway through a national monument?
- Yours, etc,
KIERAN McGUIRE, Cappagh, Kilcock, Co Kildare.