M3 tolls only small part of the price we pay

IT is depressing that only now, somewhat late in the day, Meath County Council has united in its opposition to the twice-tolled M3.

For motorists obliged to use it for commuting purposes, the daily toll will amount to €5.20 (or €26 a week).

But the multiple tolls are only part of the price we, as Irish citizens, will be obliged to pay.

Tara is internationally recognised as a symbol of our nationhood. Yet this motorway and interchange at the very foot of the hill is destined to gouge its way through Tara’s Gabhra Valley and irrevocably undermine the physical integrity of this landscape forever.

A rash of secondary development that will inevitably follow will compound the damage still further.

It appears Tara has been sold to a business consortium that will stand to reap a substantial profit at our inestimable loss. To add insult to injury, each time we pass through the M3 toll barriers we will do so in the knowledge that some of our money will be used to offset the costs of this cultural desecration. The real toll will be more than monetary — it will be at the expense of our dignity as a people and a nation.

Joe Fenwick

Department of Archaeology

NUI Galway