If Tara isn’t visible from the road junction, why is it showing in the picture?
It also appears that heavy mechanical diggers are being used in the excavation of the Tara valley.
Many are concerned that the visual impact of this interchange may have a detrimental effect on the appeal of Tara.
Time and time again, the crucial question of whether the M3 and the Blundelstown/Tara interchange would be visible from the hill has been raised.
And as many times, the Government and the NRA have stated categorically that the M3 would not be visible from the hill.
However, it is now entirely evident that this massive interchange at the foot of the hill will indeed be visible from Tara, and this poses grave questions.
Given Tara’s importance to heritage and tourism in Co Meath, why was the foot of the hill chosen for a 28-acre interchange?
Why have Government ministers - including our own local minister, Noel Dempsey - repeatedly stated that the Tara interchange would not be visible from Tara when there is now clear photographic evidence to the contrary?
How will this huge interchange affect Co Meath’s image as a heritage-conscious county, and will there be an impact on tourism?
And finally, are the 22-ton mechanical diggers carefully uncovering the story of our most significant national heritage site or is it just to clear the ground for the intersection as soon as possible?
It is essential that the ministers Dempsey, Roche, and Cullen respond to these concerns, and explain why assertions that the M3 would not be visible from the hill have now been proved so spectacularly incorrect.
The Government should realise that tearing up the ground with 22-ton mechanical diggers shows contempt for heritage, and a sledgehammer-like approach to archaeology in the Tara area is entirely unacceptable.
Meath needs infrastructure, but it also needs its heritage.
Cllr Joe Reilly
Meath Co Council
Navan
Co Meath
