Tunnel protest fails to stop M3 work

A HIGH Court bid to halt work on the M3 Dublin to Navan motorway because protesters claimed to have dug a tunnel underneath it failed yesterday.

The court application for an injunction to stop the work also claimed that a national monument on the site was in danger of being damaged because of the building work — a claim denied by the National Roads Authority (NRA) which said any delay in the project would cost the taxpayer €330,000 per week.

The monument, at an esker known as Rath Lugh, is located about 2.3 miles north-east of the Hill of Tara and divided from the hill by the existing N3 road.