Gormley under fire on first day

NEW Green Party Environment Minister John Gormley walked into a storm on his first day in office by suggesting he would be unable to reverse his predecessor’s decision to build the M3 over an historic monument near Tara.

Fine Gael claimed the Greens had been “politically emasculated” in their first hour in government, while Labour said inaction by Mr Gormley would prove his party’s involvement in the coalition was merely “a cosmetic exercise”.

On Tuesday, outgoing Environment Minister Dick Roche signed an order for the “preservation by record” of the prehistoric henge discovered at Lismullen, Co Meath, earlier this year.