Razed M3 site 'was national monument'

clipped from www.ireland.com Razed M3 site 'was national monument' 06/07/2007 17:59 A site that campaigners claim was an ancient burial ground near the Hill of Tara and which was razed during construction work this week should have been given "the fullest and most detailed attention" and was indeed a national monument, documents published today suggest. Documents published by Minister for the Environment John Gormley today reveal that the director of the National Museum Dr Pat Wallace wrote to the Minister's predecessor Dick Roche in May urging him to set up a special committee to examine a site at Baronstown, just outside Dunshaughlin, Co Meath. That site was razed by heavy machinery earlier this week Dr Wallace said in his letter dated May 3rd, 2007 that a committee should be set up after "a short pause for discussion and reflection" in order to afford "this national monument the fullest and most detailed attention and a total excavation to the highest and most transparent standard".

A letter on file from Dr Wallace to Mr Roche dated May 3 rd last congratulates him on declaring Lismullen a national monument and says there is a "compelling case" to be made that Baronstown is also worthy of such protection. Dr Wallace wrote that the discovery of the national monument at Lismullen came as "no surprise" to those who believed the intended motorway route "was indeed bisecting an ancient ritual landscape".