Below is the response of Minister Gormley to the warning letter from Marcin
Libicki, Chair of the European Parliament Committee on Petitions.

I will post my response to this shortly.

Stiof

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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