Minister issues preservation order on demolished monument

Environment Minister Martin Cullen has issued an order preventing any further construction works taking place on a site where an ancient archaeological monument was destroyed earlier this month.

The underground passageway, known as a souterrain, was discovered on September 5 on the site of a proposed housing development between Haggardstown and Blackrock.

The man who found the monument put a notice in the local newspaper on September 10 to report the discovery, but the next day, the souterrain was demolished.

Mr Cullen said today that he had issued an order preventing any further construction work until his department and the developer agreed appropriate measures to deal with the situation.