An Taisce: Carrickimes Conflict Exposed

national | miscellaneous | news report Monday October 28, 2002 18:19 by an taisce

CARRICKMINES CONFLICT EXPOSED

AN TAISCE
PRESS RELEASE 26 SEPTEMBER

CARRICKMINES CONFLICT EXPOSED

http://www.antaisce.org

At the bi-annual meeting of the Environmental
Co-ordinating Committee of the National Development
Plan and Community Structural Funds earlier today, An
Taisce has asked for a letter from the National Museum
of Ireland about the "serious shortcomings in both the
EIS and the monitoring of the gas pipeline" at
Carrickmines Castle Complex in County Dublin to be
addressed before work begins.

The letter, dated 6 September 2002, was released to
the organisation under Freedom of Information Act and
was submitted to the 27 members of the Committee this
morning.

The Museum examined the matter of the omission of the
1983 Foras Forbatha Report by Paddy Healy from the
bibliography of the EIS and state that the
"implication would appear to be that the compilers of
the EIS not only failed to consult the Foras Forbatha
Report, but even failed to consult (or adequate
consult) the Site and Monuments [SRM] file for this
site".

The letter further states that "The Irish Antiquities
Division Archive has included a file on a coin hoard
from Carrickmines castle since its acquisition in 1995
which is also omitted from the EIS." The coin hoard,
was located east of the road in an area ignored by the
EIS. "The question why this vitally important
information was not included in the EIS is a serious
matter that should be addressed…"

Further, the letter, addressed to Dr. David Sweetman,
Chief Archaeologist of Dúchas, the Heritage Service
from Eammon P. Kelly, the Keeper of Irish Antiquities
at National Museum, also addressed the Bord Gais
pipeline laid across the site recently.

The letter states that the gas pipeline at
Carrickmines "cut across the defences at Carrickmines
castle (including the stone revetted fosse) in at
least four separate locations, and also cut through
the interior of the castle over a total distance of
approximately 150 meters". The letter states: "Yet the
report on the monitoring makes no reference to these
features and does not record so much as a single shard
of pottery from the site (a prehistoric deposit of
heat shattered stone was noted some distance from the
castle site). Given what we know about the wealth of
archaeological at these sites, these results do not
seem credible."

Indeed, the letter concludes, "in view if the evidence
of serious shortcomings in both the EIS and the
monitoring of the gas pipeline, questions may also
need to be asked about the State's regulating and
monitoring such activities."

A spokesman for An Taisce stated that "The
archaeological find at Carrickmines are the property
of the State and their destruction is a criminal
offence. "But the licence holders must not be
scapegoated. The investigations must centre on the
National Roads Authority archaeologists, the two
consulting companies involved, and the National
Monuments Section of Dúchas, Minister Cullen's
Heritage Service.

We are calling on Ministers Breenan and Cullen to
suspend all work on the motorway until the questions
raised by the National Museum as to the competence of
the State archaeological controls have been
satisfactorily addressed.

The organisation added that 35% of the site remains
unexcavated and 75% - to 80% of the excavated area
will be destroyed on Monday morning unless the
Government moves to addresses this issue.

Spokesman: Ian Lumley, Heritage Officer
An Taisce 01 454 1786