The Wholesome Photo of the Month Thu May 09, 2024 11:01 | Anti-Empire
In 3 War Years Russia Will Have Spent $3... Thu May 09, 2024 02:17 | Anti-Empire
UK Sending Missiles to Be Fired Into Rus... Tue May 07, 2024 14:17 | Marko Marjanović
US Gives Weapons to Taiwan for Free, The... Fri May 03, 2024 03:55 | Anti-Empire
Russia Has 17 Percent More Defense Jobs ... Tue Apr 30, 2024 11:56 | Marko Marjanović
Anti-Empire >>
Indymedia Ireland is a volunteer-run non-commercial open publishing website for local and international news, opinion & analysis, press releases and events. Its main objective is to enable the public to participate in reporting and analysis of the news and other important events and aspects of our daily lives and thereby give a voice to people.
Julian Assange is finally free ! Tue Jun 25, 2024 21:11 | indy
Stand With Palestine: Workplace Day of Action on Naksa Day Thu May 30, 2024 21:55 | indy
It is Chemtrails Month and Time to Visit this Topic Thu May 30, 2024 00:01 | indy
Hamburg 14.05. "Rote" Flora Reoccupied By Internationalists Wed May 15, 2024 15:49 | Internationalist left
Eddie Hobbs Breaks the Silence Exposing the Hidden Agenda Behind the WHO Treaty Sat May 11, 2024 22:41 | indy
Human Rights in Ireland >>
Why I Fear What Labour Will Do to the Education System Sun Jul 28, 2024 11:00 | Stephen Curran
We are facing a radical agenda set by the progressive wing of the educational establishment, says Dr Stephen Curran. We should build on the past 14 years' foundation, not tear it down.
The post Why I Fear What Labour Will Do to the Education System appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Labour Has Just Betrayed a Generation of Young People Sun Jul 28, 2024 09:00 | Richard Eldred
By dropping the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act, the Education Secretary has declared war on the culture of free speech on campus. The fight-back starts here, says Claire Fox in the Telegraph.
The post Labour Has Just Betrayed a Generation of Young People appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
The Extreme Weather We?re Experiencing Is Not Man Made, According to the IPCC Sun Jul 28, 2024 07:00 | Mark Ellse
Day-to-day weather, with all its extremes, is "just weather", according to the IPCC. With their authority onside, we can shrug off the BBC's melodramatic climate reports and misinformation, says Mark Ellse.
The post The Extreme Weather We?re Experiencing Is Not Man Made, According to the IPCC appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
News Round-Up Sun Jul 28, 2024 01:17 | Richard Eldred
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Green MP Proposes Sweeping Reforms to House of Commons in Maiden Speech Sat Jul 27, 2024 19:00 | Sean Walsh
The sweeping House of Commons reforms proposed by Green MP Ellie Chowns are evidence that the Mrs Dutt-Pauker types have moved from Peter Simple's columns into public life. We're in for a bumpy ride, says Sean Walsh.
The post Green MP Proposes Sweeping Reforms to House of Commons in Maiden Speech appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Lockdown Skeptics >>
Voltaire, international edition
Netanyahu soon to appear before the US Congress? It will be decisive for the suc... Thu Jul 04, 2024 04:44 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N°93 Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:49 | en
Will Israel succeed in attacking Lebanon and pushing the United States to nuke I... Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:40 | en
Will Netanyahu launch tactical nuclear bombs (sic) against Hezbollah, with US su... Thu Jun 27, 2024 12:09 | en
Will Israel provoke a cataclysm?, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Jun 25, 2024 06:59 | en
Voltaire Network >>
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (6 of 6)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6This is how we are in this mess
for the head of this country to vioce such oppinions is shamefull. bertie should attend diplomacy school, lay off the pints and learn about his heritage. Selling or tarmacing the countries ancient sites is upsetting celts all over the world.
with Bertie and his buddies re Tara either
Rossport meets Taragate
as a freelance developer i say good on ya bertie!!..who cares about an ancient mound of dirt?...i could no sooner care about a dogshit on the street of dublin. which seems to be raking in the celtic tiger dollar.....there are too many of these piles of rubbish around the country which are waiting to be raped...sorry i mean developed...where these bearded scallops see history i see a future for ireland and for the enterprizing individuals such as myself...
If you want to point fingers at guilty parties; then point them not at bertie. but at the bord faltie....Ireland is a crack whore, and people with no history such as the yanks are gonna shoot up!....
It's time to retire your aran jumper, take the money and run....Galway will soon enough become Microsoftania.
Chief archaeologist only has basic degree
Frank McDonald, Environment Editor
Brian Duffy, chief archaeologist of the Department of the Environment, was appointed to his post even though he has only a general BA degree in archaeology and no track record of archaeological excavations or publications, The Irish Times has established.
Mr Duffy got the job in July 2003, ahead of candidates with superior qualifications and professional experience - notably Dr Ann Lynch, who holds a PhD in archaeology and has led excavations at sensitive sites such as Poulnabrone in Co Clare and Tintern Abbey, Co Wexford.
The job specification for chief archaeologist requires, among other things, a person with "strong leadership qualities, management skills and sound judgment" who would motivate and manage a staff of 40 and provide "expert professional advice on archaeology as required".
Competition for the post was confined to senior archaeologists in the department's heritage section. None of the three eligible applicants was interviewed; they were merely invited to submit a form describing their work, previous experience and other relevant information.
These written applications were reviewed by Mary Moylan, assistant secretary at the department's planning division, and Michael Canny, assistant secretary, corporate services. Eight days later, they recommended that Mr Duffy should be appointed by Martin Cullen.
Prof John Waddell, head of the department of archaeology at NUI Galway, from where Mr Duffy graduated in 1971, said his appointment caused surprise because people were aware of his lack of qualifications and experience of excavation work.
"He has no post-graduate qualifications and, to the best of my knowledge, he has never written anything or published anything on mainstream archaeology, in contrast to most of his colleagues in the department, some of whom have PhDs and many of whom have master's degrees.
"He has never directed an archaeological excavation and has no experience in that area whatsoever, though he might have participated in one as a student 30 years ago. He also got his BA long before landscape archaeology became an important area of research."
Prof Waddell said Mr Duffy's "incomprehensible lack of knowledge of what constitutes an archaeological landscape" was evident in the advice he gave Minister for the Environment Dick Roche on the plan to route the M3 motorway through the Tara-Skryne valley in Co Meath. "In failing to address the question that the Tara landscape constitutes an archaeological area . . . the chief archaeologist, the department and the Minister failed in their duty of care in respect of the country's heritage," he said in an affidavit for the High Court case on the M3.
Mr Duffy's qualifications were also called into question during a recent Circuit Court case in which his predecessor, David Sweetman, successfully sued Associated Newspapers, publishers of Ireland on Sunday, for libel over an article on the Carrickmines case.
When his counsel, Garrett Cooney SC, noted that Mr Duffy was involved in Carrickmines and commented that he was "a well-known and well-qualified archaeologist", Mr Sweetman said: "Well, actually, Brian Duffy isn't well-known and, in my opinion, not well-qualified."
In the Tara case, Mr Duffy expressed the view that the M3 motorway "will be a monument of major significance in the future". And in dealing with the Woodstown Viking site in Waterford, he argued that it could be "preserved in situ" by rolling the N25 Waterford bypass over it.
But Dr Pat Wallace, director of the National Museum, insisted that the site was of such importance that it would have to be excavated. Without naming Mr Duffy, he challenged the view of those "who for some inexplicable reason seem to think it would be better covered over".
Two months after becoming chief archaeologist, Mr Duffy dismissed the view that Woodstown was a Viking longphort - which is what it turned out to be - as a "speculative notion of the site's nature, with absolutely no archaeological evidence to support it".
In response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act, the department refused to release any details of Mr Duffy's academic qualifications, his professional career, what archaeological excavations he has carried out and what publications he has to his credit, if any.
The department cited section 28 of the Freedom of Information Act, which covers the disclosure of personal information, saying it considered "on balance [ that] the public interest in protecting the privacy of the individual in this case outweighs the public interest in releasing the information".
Personnel officer Dave Fadden recently informed the Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland that the process used to appoint Mr Duffy was "in line with the department's policy on filling internal positions at this level" and that the "most suitable candidate" had been selected.
In a statement, the department said Mr Duffy was a qualified archaeologist who has served in the National Monuments Service since 1976 "dealing with a wide range of archaeological issues including the Archaeological Survey of Ireland, conservation programmes at national monuments and all aspects of development-related archaeology".
Though the statement confirmed that the three candidates for the post had been "rated" based on written submissions, it said an arrangement has now been introduced that senior professional posts in the department "are filled on the basis of competitive interview".
There is another article in todays Irish Times about Bertie's preocupation with stately homes.
It seems only image matters to the government. It is a pity that the government are deploying 'yes men' in key positions so they can get easy out comes when it suits them