John Gormley, Irish Minister for the Environment, And The EU

[S.I. Sheehan]

24 July 2007



Marcin Libicki
Chairman
Committee on Petitions
European Parliament



Dear Mr Libicki,



Thank you for your letter of 20th July, following the visit of your
delegation to Ireland in June. I was delighted to have the opportunity
to meet your delegation on that occasion, and I trust the rest of your
visit was productive. As I said at our meeting, it is my hope that your
committee will investigate all of the relevant petitions as rigorously
as possible, in particular those which relate to environmental issues.
I look forward to receiving your full report in due course.



In your letter you express the committee’s concern about damage to
sites of great archaeological and historical value and significance
along the route of the M3. Although I do not have responsibility for
the M3 or its routing, as Minister for the Environment I am responsible
for protecting our heritage and any significant sites uncovered during
this project. In 2005 my predecessor issues a series of directions in
respect of sites along the route of the proposed motorway, and in June
2007, shortly before I took office, he issued further directions in
respect of the national monument at Lismullen, which had since been
discovered. These directions ordered the excavation of the
archaeological remains at this site.



As it is not open to me to review or reverse these directions, I have a
responsibility to ensure that the excavation is carried out in
accordance with best archaeological practice, and that any potential
damage to the site is avoided. For this reason, I established an
expert advisory committee to advise on the conduct of the
archaeological investigations. This committee includes Dr Conor Newman,
a leading expert on the archaeology of Tara, Dr Pat Wallace, Director
of the National Museum of Ireland, Professor Gabriel Cooney of the
School of Archaeology, UCD, as well as representatives of the National
Monuments Service of my department, and of the National Roads
Authority.



It is important to point out that the advice I have received from the
expert committee is that the monument at Lismullen is in a very
vulnerable condition, could not sustain or withstand preservation in
situ and that, therefore, excavation is desirable and in the best
interests of the archaeological remains. It is therefore most urgent
that these excavations begin as soon as conditions allow, as
recommended by the expert committee. I am enclosing a copy of this
committee’s report for your information.



The issue of compliance with EU law is of particular concern to me, as
I have stated that one of my priorities in office will be to resolve a
number of outstanding cases taken against Ireland for infringements of
EU directives. For this reason I sought a meeting with Commissioner
Dimas earlier this month, at which we discussed the M3 project amongst
other issues. My department is actively engaged in preparing a response
to the recent Reasoned Opinion in respect of the EIA Directive, and we
have sought legal advice in the matter. However, as you will
appreciate, the immediate issue of avoiding damage to the vulnerable
site at Lismullen must be the overriding concern, so it is my intention
that the recommendations of the Lismullen Advisory Committee be pursued
as soon as they consider appropriate.



Your letter asks for urgent action to halt existing works in this area
and to review the routing of this section of the M3 motorway. As
responsibility for the works, and for the routing of the motorway, lies
with the National Roads Authority, I have forwarded a copy of your
letter to the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey TD, for
consideration. I should point out that the motorway works at this
location have indeed stopped, and will not recommence until excavations
of the national monument at Lismullen are complete.
Yours sincerely,
John Gormley TD
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government