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.