Jarring notes on a cultural scandal

THE upcoming Rugby World Cup brings to mind the Fields of Athenry reverberating around Lansdowne. Written, of course, by that master songwriter Pete St John, who I last saw in Dublin protesting against the proposed motorway through Tara.

It was a shame that a man who has given so much to the culture of Ireland had to protest to protect Tara.

Another cultural icon, William Butler Yeats, protested over a century ago against excavations at Tara.