16 August 2004

Motorway works on Carrickmines Castle site a barbaric act – say the Greens

The Green Party has described the works being carried out at the Carrickmines Castle site today as barbaric.

Ciarán Cuffe TD, the Green Party's Heritage spokesperson said today that, “There was always room for compromise at Carrickmines; the remains of the castle can't move but the road can. It is outrageous that Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council have sent in the bulldozers to destroy a precious part of Ireland's built heritage.”

“The works today were made possible by the National Monuments Bill introduced by Martin Cullen, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. It is absurd that a Minister with responsibility for Heritage would allow a road to destroy a precious part of our heritage.”

Mr Cuffe visited the site today and said, “I was appalled to see heavy earth moving equipment being used to remove sections of a medieval wall. I believe the works are being carried out with undue haste and that not enough effort is being put into recording the archeological evidence on-site. These works should be carried out by hand rather than with heavy machinery. Instead though, hundreds of years of history are being wiped away with every scoop of the JCB bucket.”

ENDS/

Ciarán Cuffe is a TD for the Dún Laoghaire Dáil Constituency. Ciarán can be contacted at Dáil Éireann, Kildare Street, Dublin 2 or 96 Patrick Street, Dún Laoghaire Tel. 284 6060 or 618 3082, Fax 618 4341, Email Ciaran CiaranCuffe.com, or Text Ciaran on 087 265 2075.