Why are you destroying the true spirit of Ireland?
In the past 10 years I’ve been a dedicated fan of the Irish landscape, culture and people. I’ve been so impressed by the undisturbed beauty of the Irish landscape and the seamless integration of the past with the present that I’ve chosen Ireland as a kind of a second home.
When I returned home I did all I could to make Hungarian people aware of the unique beauty I had found in Ireland. I arranged photo exhibitions and made slide shows - with the aid of the Irish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (I thank them for their support).
Right now, my friends and I are translating Lady Gregory’s Gods and Fighting Men into Hungarian so that people here can learn the history and mythology that’s so intertwined with that special landscape.
But we are astonished to learn that the Government is now allowing, and even financing, the destruction of this beautiful landscape.
When I first visited Ireland it was a truly magical place, where you could just go along any path across the fields and find an historic monument or archeological site at almost every turn.
I have visited several European countries, but this was a unique feature of Ireland. I’ve felt such communion with the past nowhere else.
Now this is rapidly fading, and Ireland is becoming an over-industrialised European country among a dozen others with lots of monuments, but without a unique spirit.
This makes me very unhappy because I think something very precious is fading from our world as a result of the negligence of those who are in a position to preserve it.
I think the motorway excavation near Tara is one of the greatest crimes ever committed against the true spirit of Ireland. Yes, accessibility is important - but what good is it if in the process you destroy everything that’s worth accessing?
I ask your government to stop this 21st century barbarism. Please do not destroy the unique quality of Ireland.
Csaba Sághi
1191 Budapest
Jozsef Attila 50-56
Hungary
