No basis to change M3 route as no national monument found, court told

THE proposed route of the M3 motorway near the Hill of Tara was chosen after extensive public consultation involving some four thousand people and culminating in a 28-day oral hearing by An Bord Pleanála, the High Court was told yesterday.

There was no basis to alter that route unless a national monument was discovered and no such discovery had been made, Paul Gallagher SC, for Meath County Council, said.

The route would be no more visible from the Hill of Tara than the existing N3 and the visual impact would be reduced by landscaping.

Mr Gallagher said the proposed route would not adversely affect the national monument which is the Hill of Tara and none of 38 sites discovered during archaeological works along the route had been found to be national monuments.

Counsel contended that, in his legal proceedings challenging the M3 proposal, environmentalist Vincent Salafia was seeking to subvert the road scheme and to get the court involved in issues that were of no concern to the court.

Experts for the council denied any shortcomings in the road scheme.

Yesterday was the third day of the hearing before Mr Justice Thomas Smyth of the action by Mr Salafia against the Minister for the Environment, the State and Meath County Council, with the National Roads Authority as notice party.

Mr Salafia, of Dodder Vale, Churchtown, Dublin, wants to overturn directions given by the minister in May 2005 regarding the treatment of 38 archaeological sites along the proposed route of the M3.

Mr Salafia claims the directions were unlawful and that provisions of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act 2004 are unconstitutional.