Five arrested during Tara protest

Five demonstrators have been arrested during a protest against the route of the M3 motorway in Co Meath today.

Gardaí were called to the scene this morning by SIAC Construction and the National Roads Authority, who complained that protestors were blocking demolition works in the Soldier's Hill area of Tara.

Some of the protestors claim they were assaulted by construction workers.

They had apparently climbed up onto construction machinery in an effort to prevent the demolition work.

The protestors have been engaged in a long-running campaign to get the motorway re-routed away from the archaeologically rich landscape around Tara.