Minister should change direction

IT comes as little surprise that after the mechanical soil-stripping in advance of motorway construction, yet more archaeological monuments have come to light in the Gabhra Valley — among them the extensive archaeological complex at Lismullin.

Central to this complex is the large hengiform enclosure, the sole monument along the entire M3 corridor that the NRA (in consultation with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government) has felt compelled to declare a national monument.

But what brought about this Pauline conversion on the road to Dublin for the NRA/Environment Department, and why this particular monument and not the others in the Gabhra Valley, each of which is an integral part of Tara and its royal demesne (ferann ríg).