Government Must Prioritize Monuments Bill in Programme of Legislation

Posted on April 6, 2011 by vincent

Press Release | Save Newgrange | 6 April 2011

Government Must Prioritize Monuments Bill in Programme of Legislation

Save Newgrange is calling on the Government to add the National Monuments Bill to its list of 20 urgent Bills to be published by the end of the Summer Session on July 21st. The call comes in response to first Programme of Legislation published yesterday, listing 105 Bills at various stages of preparation.

The Bill must be presented immediately, since last month, the current National Monuments Act was held in breach of the EU Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive, by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The Court found that the decision by former Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, to demolish Lismullin national monument at Tara was illegal, since a new EIA was not required by the Act.

Save Newgrange had announced on Monday that it was staging a demonstration outside Dail Eireann on Friday, calling for the Bill to be passed before Summer, and before An Bord Pleanala decides whether to give planning permission for the N2 Slane Bypass, which is proposed to pass within 500m of the Bru na Boinne UNESCO World Heritage site. The proposal has been condemned by national and international experts. The demonstration will take place on Kildare Street, at 1.00pm on Friday.

A Save Newgrange spokesperson said:

“The Government is showing its colours, and they are not much different than the previous ones. It is now abundantly clear that there is the same disregard for heritage and the environment, coupled the same two-fingered approach to the European Commission’s Environment Directorate.

“This lack of priority for heritage in the Programme of Legislation also shows how weak Labour is in the coalition. It had been the most outspoken of Opposition parties against the M3 motorway at Tara.

“Eamon Gilmore had been highly critical of the 2004 Amendment to the National Monuments Act, brought in by Martin Cullen and now found to be illegal by the ECJ.

“If Eamon Gilmore wants to wash off the stain on Ireland’s international reputation, he should be trying to ensure that Bru na Boinne site does not suffer the fate of the Hill of Tara, and become the next great international embarrassment.

ENDS

Contact: Vincent Salafia 087-132-3365

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Call for Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan, to Amend the Illegal National Monuments Act

Posted on April 3, 2011 by vincent

‘Preservation’ of the Lismullin National Monument – M3 Motorway at Hill of Tara – 2007

The new Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan, must act immediately to amend the National Monuments Act and the Planning and Development Act to comply with EU law and save our important cultural and archaeological sites.

The National Monuments Act of Ireland has been found to be in breach of EU law in two separate European Court of Justice (ECJ) rulings, and Ireland will face fines of up to €33,000 per day if it does not comply. National monuments and UNESCO World Heritage Sites are at currently risk after the ECJ found in March 2011 that the decision made by then Minister for the Environment Dick Roche, to demolish the Lismullin National Monument at the Hill of Tara in 2007 was in breach of EU law.

Save Newgrange is calling on Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan, to present the National Monuments Bill 2010 to the Dail for passage. The Bill was approved by Cabinet not long before a General Election was called in 2010. The Bill had been drafted after extensive public consultation, which took place between 2007 and 2010, and it provides the level of legal protection required by EU law. However, Minister Gormley and the Green Party failed to present the National Monuments Bill 2010 to the Dail before they were removed from Government in the 2011 General Election.

The two European Court of Justice cases against Ireland, which require amendment to the National Monuments Act and the Planning and Development Act are:

Case C-50/09 – Commission v. Ireland (3 March 2011)

On 3 March 2011, the European Court of Justice ruled against Ireland in a case brought by the European Commission, which alleged that the National Monuments Act (2004) is in breach of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive, 85/337/EEC. The issues involved included: Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Obligation of the competent environmental authority to carry out an assessment of the effects of certain projects on the environment – Need to ensure an assessment of the interaction between factors likely to be directly or indirectly affected – Application of the directive to demolition works.

In May 2007,works on the M3 motorway were halted after TaraWatch informed the National Museum that a major archaeological site had been discovered by the National Roads Authority (NRA) at Lismullin, close to the Hill of Tara. The 2,000 year old ‘henge’ site had not been previously detected, despite two major archaeological surveys of the route. Other remains, including spectacular rock art and ‘souterrains’ or underground dwellings were also discovered. The site was later be hailed as one of the Top 1o Most Important Discoveries in the world for 2007, by Archaeology Magazine.

On 12 June 2007 Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, declared Lismullin a ‘national monument’, but gave directions under Section 14 the National Monuments Act for the site to be excavated and then demolished, to allow the M3 motorway to proceed. It was one of his last official acts, before handing over his office to the new Minister for the Environment, John Gormley of the Green Party, who immediately claimed that he could not undo the order.

In July 2007 EU officials called on Minister Gormley to halt to the works at Lismullin, but were ignored. Instead Minister Gormley proceeded to defend the Order, after the European Commission wrote a “reasoned opinion” to the Government in June 2007. The Commission warned the Government that the policy in relation to assessments was in breach of EU directives and demanded that an Environmental Impact Assessment be carried out on the site before any decision to demolish it was made.

The Petitions Committee of the European Parliament also visited the Lismullin site in June 2007, and in July wrote to the Irish Government, demanding an immediate stop to the M3 works at Lismullin. Minister Gormley ignored this demand, actually claimed that he didn’t even know that the Commission had ordered works to halt until he read about it in The Irish Independent on 30 August 2007. After salvage excavations were competed, the Lismullin national monument site was handed over to Ferrovial construction company in December 2007, and completely demolished shortly thereafter.

Case C-66/06 – Commission v. Ireland (Nov 2008 & March 2011)

The Commission won a case against Ireland, in the European Court of Justice, on 20 November 2008, on issues of: Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Directive 85/337/EEC –Assessment of the effects of projects on the environment – Consent given without an assessment. The Commission had argued that the Planning and Development Regulations, 2001 (S.I. No 600/2001), as amended, was in breach of the EIA Directive, by failing to establish adequate thresholds, which require Environmental Impact Assessment to be performed on public and private developments. This resulted in natural and archaeological sites being damaged.

In February 2011, the European Commission petitioned the ECJ to impose fines on Ireland for failing to properly implement the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive. The Commission won the original case against Ireland, in November 2008, but then Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, failed to rectify the law before leaving office.

The Government is required under the directive on the assessment of the environmental impact of certain public and private projects to set up a system to decide whether an environmental impact assessment study is required before authorisation. Under the directive, the decision on when such an assessment is required can be made according to set thresholds, case-by-case analysis or other criteria in line with EU criteria. In its 2008 ruling, the Luxembourg-based court found that Ireland’s thresholds were too high for setting out when an environmental impact assessment is required for water management, irrigation and land drainage projects and the restructuring of rural landholdings, which was resulting in the loss of important natural and archaeological heritage sites.

Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, failed to change Irish law to comply with EU law, and the European Commission was forced to initiate a second law suit against Ireland, in February 2011, seeking fines against Ireland for it’s failure to implement EU Law. In the new case against Ireland the commission will ask the court to impose a fine of €4,000 for each day since the court ruled against Ireland on November 20th 2008 and for each day until the court issues a new infringement ruling. Any failure to comply with a new ruling should be punished by a fine of €33,000 per day.

Minister Hogan called on to improve environmental protection

Since the new Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan (FG) took office in February, 2011, community-based campaign groups from around Ireland have called on the Government to ratify a United Nations convention on public access to information, participation and justice in environmental decision-making – the AARHUS Convention, which links human rights and protection of the environment. Instead, the Minister is reportedly ‘reviewing’ changes made to the Planning Acts by the Green Party, that limited decisions to rezone land (see ‘Minister risks returning to bad old days of planning‘ – Irish Times – 31 March 2011.)

Save Newgrange and and TaraWatch are now calling on the Minister Hogan to immediately move to amend the National Monuments Act and the Planning Act, as required by EU law, before An Bord Pleanala makes a decision on whether or not to grant planning permission for the N2 Slane bypass, which is proposed to run 500m from the Bru na Boinne UNESCO World Heritage Site. A decision is expected from the Bord before the end of summer.

Links:

Ancient Tomb Art Found in Path of Irish Highway – National Geographic – 14 Jan 2008

Commission seeks fines against Ireland for not adopting legislation to protect countryside heritage – European Commission Press Release – 16 February 2011

State faces €3.2m fine over breach of EU ruling – The Irish Times – 17 February 2011

Farming – Opinion – The Irish Times - 21 February 2011

Europe ruling on planning directive welcomed – The Irish Times – 5 March 2011

Ireland in breach of EU law – Irish Examiner – 5 March 2011

National Roads Authority – Lismullin Excavation reports

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Irish Times: Heritage findings at Slane being ‘ignored’

Posted on February 23, 2011 by vincent

Heritage findings at Slane being ‘ignored’

The Irish Times - Wednesday, February 23, 2011
ELAINE KEOGH

MEATH COUNTY Council has been accused of ignoring the magnitude of the findings of an international expert who says the Slane bypass could threaten the status of Brú na Bóinne as a Unesco world heritage site. Dr Douglas Comer had also said the proposed road breaches the council’s own development plan, which says development must protect the amenity, views and landscape of the monuments in the world heritage site which includes Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth. At the public hearing into the plans for the Slane bypass, Colm Mac Eochaidh SC, for former attorney general John Rogers who lives near the buffer zone for the world heritage site, asked whether they would be told if Dr Comer’s report constituted “significant further information” and as such it should be advertised to the public.

Dr Comer said the landscape’s heritage value was “as high as it gets” and the building of a road at or near a world heritage site was “the most problematic of all possible developments”. Of the effects of the proposed bypass, “none can be viewed as non-significant”.  The council is seeking permission from the planning board to build a 3.5km dual carriageway at a cost of €46 million. It retained Dr Comer on advice from An Bord Pleanála to assess independently the heritage impact on the site of the proposed road. He had advised the hearing that “almost certainly,” there would be a visit by experts from Unesco asking about gaps in information on the proposed road. The three likely outcomes of that process included being de-listed as a world heritage site. He said “nowhere else in the world” had the monuments and continuity of settlement that was found at Brú na Bóinne.

Dr Comer also said he could not find any study on the implications of simply banning heavy goods vehicles from the village – proposed nearly two years ago – or a study on other alternatives to building the bypass. He added that the Boyne bridge on the M1 motorway was “without a doubt incompatible” with the landscape that led to Brú na Bóinne being inscribed by Unesco.

WRITE TO lettersed@irishtimes.com

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An Bord Pleanala Oral Hearing for Slane Bypass Begins – Traffic blamed for partial collapse of Slane bridge

Posted on February 16, 2011 by vincent

Traffic blamed for partial collapse of Slane bridge

The Irish Times - 15 February 2011

CONSTANT HEAVY traffic on Slane bridge appears to have been why it partially collapsed last month, an oral hearing by An Bord Pleanála into a proposed bypass of Slane village heard yesterday.  At the time, Meath County Council said the collapse of a stone wall on the western facade of the bridge was due to icy weather.  However, yesterday Seamus Mac Gearailt of Roughan O’Donovan engineers, which oversaw the selection of the bypass route on behalf of the council, said “it appears to have been due to heavy traffic loading over years”.

The council is seeking permission from the planning board to build a 3.5km dual-carriageway at a cost of €46 million to the east of the village. The route will take it some 500m from the buffer zone to Brú na Bóinne, a Unesco world heritage site that includes Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth.  Mr Mac Gearailt also told the hearing, chaired by planning inspector Michael Walsh, that it was not just Slane bridge that posed risks to traffic but all of the road layout through the village.  The N2 has steep hills on both approaches to Slane bridge and it also intersects with the main Drogheda to Navan road in the middle of the village.

Mr Mac Gearailt said Slane had the “longest and most severe descent on any national primary route”.  As a result, “vehicles have considerable difficulty in braking safely – overheating can lead to brake failure at a critical point”, he told the hearing.  Between 1996 and last year there were 40 incidents in Slane, of which 35 per cent involved trucks. The steep gradient is the key factor, the hearing heard.

At the moment, some 17,700 vehicles pass through the village each day; after the bypass, the number of vehicles will drop by a third. The number crossing Slane bridge daily will reduce by 7,700.  Mr Walsh said it was not proposed to build a bypass to the west of Slane, although it had been desirable to “tease out” what a route to the west would look like and this took place last year.  At the start of the hearing it was put to Mr Walsh that the environmental impact statement submitted by the council could be deficient and inadequate. Mr Walsh said the board “has not decided yet whether it is adequate or not. I haven’t either”.

He was speaking after Colm Mac hEochaidh SC, for former attorney general John Rogers, who lives in the area, said the recommendation by the board to the council to retain an expert on the impact of the scheme on Brú na Bóinne, including Newgrange, implied that the environmental impact statement submitted needed “a fix”.  He said it appeared the statement could be deficient “in that it does not address the impact on the world heritage site”, and if that were the situation then An Bord Pleanála had no jurisdiction to hold the oral hearing.  He put it to Mr Walsh that the first thing the board must do is decide on whether it had a lawful environmental impact statement.

The hearing also heard that the flight paths of bats in the Boyne valley were taken into consideration in selecting the height of the bridge that would carry the road across the Boyne.  It was decided that a three-span, steel-concrete composite 200m bridge that was 21m above the valley floor would be the preferred design.  Mr Mac Gearailt said the bridge design “respects its surroundings” and “we recognise it is an intrusion but leaves no stone unturned in trying to blend into its environment”.

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4NI News: A5 Road Project Facing Inquiry

Posted on February 16, 2011 by vincent

The route of the A5 in red from Derry city to Aughnacloy (County Tyrone). The continuation of this route, the N2, is shown in orange.

A5 Road Project Facing Inquiry
4NI News – 14 February 2011

A controversal cross-border road project is set to go to a Public Inquiry.  The NI Regional Development Minister, Sinn Fein’s Conor Murphy today announced that a Public Inquiry will be held into the proposed A5 Western Transport Corridor dualling project. The recent formal consultation period associated with the project, which ran from 15 November 2010 until 21 January, attracted over 2,000 objections.

In announcing his decision, the Minister said: “As expected there has been considerable interest in the proposed A5 dualling project and it is important that Public Inquiries are held to discuss and debate the issues of contention associated with the published Draft Orders and Environmental Statement.  “Projects of this scale will usually result in the holding of a Public Inquiry but, because of the length of the project and the extent of the interest, it has been decided that the A5 Public Inquiry will be held at a number of locations along the route.

“I welcome the interest in the project and hope that many of the matters of concern can be addressed either before or at the Public Inquiry which is likely to commence in May 2011,” he said.  The A5 Western Transport Corridor extends from New Buildings on the outskirts of Derry to the border at Aughnacloy and, at a length of 85 km, is the largest road scheme ever undertaken in the north.  He said that further details associated with the Public Inquiry will be published at a later date.

Most revently, the political turmoil in the Irish Republic and the coming election has led to doubts over the Dáil’s commitment to funding their part of the west Ireland road corridor. With a change in power imminent, there may be little scope for the road to be completed as originally anticipated. Irish Deputy, Joe Costello, who is Labour’s Transport Spokesman, met a coalition of anti-motorway and pro-heritage groups from both sides of the Border in Leinster House this week and then pressured the national parliament – the Oireachtas – for the hearings.

The news comes as public consultation was already under way on three sections of the route – the Slane bypass, the Monaghan bypass and the A5 in Northern Ireland – which are being opposed by Save Newgrange, Don’t Bypass the Bypass and the Alternative A5 Alliance respectively.  However, despite contractors having already been signed up, later political developments have cast doubt on a promise made by the Dáil Government to give so much money £400m (€500m) to the Stormont Executive to upgrade the A5/M2, Dublin to Londonderry Road as part of an £850m scheme.

OTHER STORIES:

4NI News: Public Hearings To Debate N2/A5 Road

4NI News: A5 ‘Road’ Plan Debated

BBC News: Public inquiry to be held on new A5 road

Donegal Democrat: 2000 objections lodged against A5 corridor

Posted in A5 Western Transport Corridor | 1 Comment

Irish Times | Welcome for public hearings into plans for Dublin-Derry road

Posted on January 14, 2011 by vincent

Welcome for public hearings into plans for Dublin-Derry road

FRANK McDONALD, Environment Editor
The Irish Times – 14 January 2011

OPPONENTS OF plans for a new road between Dublin and Derry have welcomed a decision by the Oireachtas transport committee to hold public hearings next month. The proposed route would be Ireland’s longest new road, replacing much of the N2 in the Republic and the A5 in Northern Ireland. It would be part-financed by €500 million which the Government agreed to provide under the 2006 St Andrews Agreement.

The Oireachtas hearings were requested by Joe Costello TD, Labour’s transport spokesman, after he met a coalition of anti-motorway and pro-heritage groups from both sides of the Border in Leinster House this week. Mr Costello told the delegation that Labour would draft a new national development plan if it entered government and every current infrastructure project would be reviewed, “no matter what stage of planning it is at”.

While refusing to be drawn on the N2-A5 given divided views on it in his own party, Mr Costello said the €500 million commitment would be the single biggest drawdown on transport spending in the coming years. Public consultation is under way on three sections of the route – the Slane bypass, the Monaghan bypass and the A5 in the North – which are being opposed by Save Newgrange, Don’t Bypass the Bypass and the Alternative A5 Alliance respectively.

“No cost-benefit analysis has been performed on the proposed road and traffic numbers do not justify building a new road rather than upgrading the existing one,” said Lynne Smyth of the Alternative A5 Alliance. John Dunbar, the group’s chairman, said Sinn Féin and DUP Ministers, as well as those from the Ulster Unionist Party and the SDLP, along with Taoiseach Brian Cowen, “have been saying quite matter of factly that the A5 is a ‘done deal’ and that is that”. He said Mr Costello’s comments that any new administration in the Republic “would need to look again at taking a half a billion out of the Southern economy at a time of a national economic emergency puts paid to that notion”.

Save Newgrange spokesman Vincent Salafia said leading archaeologists had made submissions to An Bord Pleanála against the Slane bypass route, arguing that it would be too close to Brú na Bóinne. He said the obvious solution to traffic problems in Slane would be to ban trucks, as agreed by Meath County Council in 2009, which would force them to use the M1.

Noel Murphy of the Don’t Bypass the Bypass campaign said Economic and Social Research Institute transport economist Dr Edgar Morgenroth had characterised the proposal to build a motorway east of the new Monaghan bypass as “total overkill”.

WRITE LETTERS TO lettersed@irishtimes.com

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Transport Committee to Hold Hearings on €1bn Dublin to Derry Road

Posted on January 13, 2011 by vincent

PRESS RELEASE – SAVE NEWGRANGE – 13 Jan 2011

Transport Committee to Hold Hearings on €1bn Dublin to Derry Road

Save Newgrange welcomes the decision by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport, yesterday evening, to hold public hearings in February into the proposed €1bn Dublin to Derry Road. Anti-motorway and pro-heritage groups met with Mr Costello, TD, on Tuesday, and requested that he call for the hearings. The proposed new road will be the longest and most expensive road ever built in Ireland, and includes a €500m donation from the Irish Government to the NI Executive, committed during negotiations for the St. Andrews Agreement.

The M2/A5 will also be the most controversial road ever built. Parties are lined up on a sectarian basis in NI, with the Unionists bitterly opposing the road, and nationalists adamantly supporting it. Public consultation is currently way on three sections of the proposed road; the N2 Slane bypass, the N2 Monaghan bypass, and the A5 Western Transport Corridor in Northern Ireland, which are being opposed by Save Newgrange, Don’t Bypass the Bypass and the Alternative A5 Alliance, respectively.

Secretary of the Alternative A5 Alliance, Lynne Smyth, said:

“No cost-benefit analysis has been performed on the proposed road, and traffic numbers do not justify building a new road, rather than upgrading the existing one.  This is a political road, and it is becoming a major election issue.”

Spokesman for Don’t Bypass the Bypass, Noel Murphy, said:

“Ireland’s leading transport economist, Dr Edgar Morgenroth, of the ESRI, who actually worked on the National Development Plan, has condemned this add-on to the NDP as being a complete waste of taxpayers’ money.  We suggested to Deputy Costello that Dr Morgenroth be invited to give evidence to the Committee.”

Spokesman for Save Newgrange, Vincent Salafia, said:

“Ireland’s foremost archaeologists, including Professor George Eogan and Joe Fenwick, have made submissions to An Bord Pleanála, opposing the route of the Slane bypass.  There is simply no valid economic justification here for threatening to damage the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Brú na Bóinne.  A HGV ban in Slane would solve the traffic problems.

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Funding of A5 Western Transport Corridor Questioned

Posted on December 9, 2010 by vincent

A5 Road Scheme Protest Redundant?

4NI News – 09 December 2010

Although contractors have already been signed up, political developments have cast doubt on a promise made by the Dáil Government to give £400m (€500m) to the Stormont Executive to upgrade the A5/M2, Dublin to Londonderry Road as part of an £850m scheme.  Those groups in NI who oppose the huge Strabane to Derry upgrade on environmental and cost grounds may therefore have been handed an early Christmas present.

Last summer, protestors against the dualling of the A5 road from Aughnacloy to Londonderry even ‘set up camp’ along the route and said the environmental impact far outweighed any shortened journey time. Most of the N2 to N14 upgrade from Monahan to Letterkenny lies within NI, but news from the Irish Republic’s Labour Party may mean that after an anticipated change of government in Dublin, money earmarked by Brian Cowen’s current ruling coalition may be running out of road.

The original promise was made at the time of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement, and has since been renewed by Mr Cowen’s Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey.
Ironically, as the public consultation and Environmental Statement for the A5 dual carriageway, to be built from the N2/Border to Derry, and on to Letterkenny was published, Labour’s Transport Spokesman, Joe Costello, said: “Ireland is in the worst recession in the history of the State.

“Spending one billion euro on a new road from Dublin to Derry including a €500 million spend in Northern Ireland will certainly not be a priority for the Labour Party while essentials such as health and education are being savagely cut. “The Labour Party has made it clear that we will be revisiting the National Development Plan and Transport 21 in the context of the present state of the public finances. A realistic cost benefit analysis will be applied to every project,” he said.

Should Labour form a substantial part of any new Dáil administration in 2011 after the coming elections, Mr Costello said: “We are no longer in a position to fund the road in the South, so how could we fund the northern section?” Now, experts are predicting that if the Republic fails to deliver the €500m then the Stormont Executive could only proceed if all other road works in NI are halted for five years and therefore may be forced instead to settle for a partial redevelopment, or to defer the contract. That’s despite contractors being appointed already and land having been identified for vesting to make way for the work to begin next year for an estimated completion in 2015.

The NI A5 protestors are not alone in the pre-festive boost either as the Irish Republic’s Save Newgrange group has also been campaigning for years against possible damage to ancient heritage sites.  A spokeswoman said: “We welcome Labour’s response to the pre-budgetary survey and their promise to perform a new cost/benefit analysis on the Slane bypass and the A5 upgrade.  “We will be updating our EU Complaint, on the basis that there should have been cross-border public consultation for both ends of this single ‘transboundary project’.

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Minister Dempsey Must Clarify N2 Slane Bypass Funding

Posted on December 6, 2010 by vincent


SAVE NEWGRANGE – PRESS RELEASE – 6 December 2010

‘Minister Dempsey Must Clarify N2 Slane Bypass Funding’

Save Newgrange is calling on Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, (Fianna Fail) to clarify whether or not there is funding for the N2 Slane bypass in the Four Year Budget plan, after a dispute broke out on LMFM Radio this morning between Thomas Byrne TD (Fianna Fail) and Vincent Salafia of Save Newgrange. On the Michael Reade show, Mr Byrne claimed that the bypass is going ahead after Mr Reade quoted an Irish Independent article by Paul Melia, on 25 November, which stated that it is not going ahead.

After the show, Save Newgrange contacted Mr Melia, who confirmed that he had been at a Department of Transport media briefing on on the budgetary four year plan for Transport 21, on 24 Nov, and that is was specifically announced that there was no funding for the Slane bypass. Save Newgrange has called for the An Bord Pleanala planning process, which will involve a lengthy and costly oral hearing to be held in early 2011, to be cancelled.

Speaking after the radio show, Mr Salafia said:

“Minister Dempsey must clarify the situation, and state categorically whether or not there is funding for the Slane bypass, in the four year budgetary plan.

“If there is no funding for the plan, in the next four years, then the planning process must be halted immediately.

“It is outrageous that the public and An Bord Pleanala are expected to spend enormous amounts of time and money on a planning process for a project that apparently is not proceeding.

ENDS

Contact – Vincent Salafia 087-132-3365

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Press Release – Shelving of N2 Slane Bypass Welcomed by Campaigners

Posted on November 30, 2010 by vincent

SAVE NEWGRANGE – PRESS RELEASE – Monday, 29 November 2010

‘Shelving of N2 Slane Bypass Welcomed by Campaigners’

Save Newgrange welcomes the shelving of the N2 Slane bypass, and is calling for the An Bord Pleanala planning process to be cancelled. The N2 Slane bypass was not included in the Four Year Budget Plan, released on Wednesday, 24 November. However, An Bord Pleanala has since indicated that it is proceeding with an oral hearing, as part of the planning process.  An Bord Pleanala has stated that the proposed oral hearing will take place some time early in the New Year; probably “next February”. However, if planning permission is granted, after the hearing, it will be over four years before construction can begin. This will mean that planning permission will be out of date.

The upgrading of the N2 Ashbournce to Ardee section of the N2 has already been shelved, so it doesn’t make any sense to continue with this section in the middle as a stand-alone 3.5km dual carriageway. Over 100 objections have been filed against the bypass, including evidence from leading archaeologist, Professor George Eogan, that the proposed route will result in the loss of World Heritage statue for Newgrange (Bru na Boinne).  Evidence that ESRI economist Dr Edgar Morgenroth has deemed the bypass an “idiotic” waste of taxpayers money has also been submitted to the board.

Vincent Salafia of Save Newgrange said:

“There is no point in proceeding with a lengthy and expensive planning hearing if there is no money to build the road.  It is outrageous that we will be forced to spend time and money attending a lengthy oral hearing, with expert witnesses, if all of the data being used will be out of date in four years.  We are calling on the Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, and the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, to immediately reign in the NRA and Meath County Council, and end this farce.

ENDS

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