TARA PROTECTION PLEDGE - TaraWatch.org
 http://www.petitiononline.com/tara101/petition.html

To: Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dick Roche
[Petition posted 14 May 2007]

I understand you, Dick Roche, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, will decide the fate of a new national monument, discovered during the course of excavations for the M3 motorway, in County Meath, Ireland.

This national monument is a prehistoric royal ceremonial site, roughly 80 metres in diameter, that is believed by experts to be a part of the Hill of Tara archaeological complex. The Hill of Tara is Ireland's premier national monument, being the site of where 142 kings were crowned, and belongs to all the people of Ireland.

The Minister for the Environment and Heritage has a constitutional imperative; to give the national heritage the highest level of statutory protection possible.

The Minister has the power, under Section 14A(4)(d) of the National Monuments Act 2004, to reroute the M3 away from this national monument and the entire Tara complex.

Recent surveys have shown that 70% of Irish people want the M3 rerouted, and I make my pledge on behalf of that democratic majority.

If you decide to allow the M3 to carry on as planned, and instruct the National Roads Authority to demolish the national monument at Lismullen, I pledge to join TaraWatch and actively demonstrate against this decision in Lismullen, when I am called upon to do so.

The site must be preserved intact until such time as the Minister's decision can be judicially reviewed by the High Court.


Sincerely,

The Undersigned