THE man putting in place a blueprint for the future conservation of the Burren has warned its people will never realise the full potential of the famed landmark unless they become far more proactive.

THE “secrets and treasures” of the Hill of Tara are set to be revealed following the most extensive survey of the area in recent years.

I WISH to congratulate archaeologist Dr Conor Newman for his integrity and courage in saving the Lismullen site on the M3 now under construction.

One of the groups opposed to the route of the M3 motorway being built near the Hill of Tara in Co Meath has called for a new Environmental Impact Assessment to be carried out.

WHILE Dáil debates are often duller than ditchwater and generally fail to address questions of importance such as why do Co Meath councillors still claim there were 32 houses in the way of the M3 route outside the valley when the environmental impact statement gave it a positive rating for ‘residential and private property impact’?

I WISH to ask those people who have previously favoured routing the proposed M3 through the Tara valley to reconsider their position and support a re-route of the motorway and the establishment of a Tara Valley World Heritage Park, as set forth by the drafters of the Meath masterplan.

Minister for Environment John Gormley has signed a temporary order to preserve a prehistoric monument that campaigners say is being threatened by the M3 motorway in Co Meath.

A LEADING expert on Tara Valley archaeology has suggested it may still be possible to avoid the demolition of part of the historical Lismullen site being excavated to make way for the M3 motorway.

An ancient burial ground near the Hill of Tara in Co Meath was razed to the ground during overnight work on the controversial M3 motorway, environmentalists claimed today.

Surprise, surprise, with 18 years of archaeological experience investigating the Tara region, Conor Newman was right.

The site of a massive ancient pagan temple unearthed at one of Europe’s most archaeologically significant sites will be buried under a controversial motorway, campaigners warned tonight.

IN the run-up to the general election it’s perhaps timely to consider the appalling lack of respect for our heritage which has been continually displayed by the Government, in particular since 2002 when Martin Cullen and his successor Dick Roche held the Environment portfolio.

WE strongly reject the implication that we have ‘hoodwinked’ the public into thinking that the proposed road goes over the Hill of Tara, contained in recent testimony to the Oireachtas Committee on Transport.

OVER the centuries some of Ireland’s most eminent scholars - John O’Donovan, George Petrie, R.A.S. Macalister, to name but a few - have engaged with the history and archaeology of Tara, and its myth and legend.

IN RESPONSE to Conor Newman’s letter (Irish Examiner, October 9), I would like to point out that rather than “rid the Tara landscape” of archaeological sites, the current archaeological work has added 38 new sites, none of which was known about before our work, because they were hidden beneath the ground with no visible presence on the landscape.

WITH the announcement of a €30 million bill to rid the Tara landscape of 38 archaeological sites in the way of the M3 motorway, the NRA is finally beginning to admit to the true impact of this ill-conceived development.

TARA is under threat. The National Roads Authority continues to perpetuate the fiction that Tara is confined to the cluster of monuments on the hilltop. This is not the case.

Evelyn Ring