UN Must Save the Hill of Tara from the M3 Motorway
THE HILL OF TARA
The Hill of Tara, Ireland's premier national monument and internationally renowned cultural icon, is being desecrated by construction of the M3 motorway. The works are in breach of international law, which protects this site for humanity, and the United Nations must intervene now.
Lying 30 miles north of Dublin, it was Ireland's capital for millennia; where over 142 kings were crowned, dating back to 3,000 BC. Since then, hundreds of monuments were built on the slopes and in the surrounding landscape. Today, the cultural landscape is defined by the remains of a number of defensive Iron Age hillforts which surround the Hill, lying approximately 2-3 miles away.
THE M3 MOTORWAY
The M3 motorway is being built by the Irish Government, in public private partnership with Siac and Ferrovial construction companies, through the centre of this landscape, and a 50 acre interchange is being built 1,000 metres from the summit. Already, dozens of archaeological sites within the landscape have been excavated and demolished, and construction is due to be completed in 2010.
CELEBRITY SUPPORT FOR THE TARAWATCH CAMPAIGN
The campaign to save Tara, and re-route the M3 motorway has reached a critical point. Celebrities such as Bono, Seamus Heaney, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Gabriel Byrne, Colm Toibin , Louis le Brocquy and Jim Fitzpatrick, supported by hundreds of international experts in Irish history, archaeology and mythology have spoken out against the M3 route. National surveys show that the vast majority of Irish people want Tara protected, and made into a UNESCO site.
Nobel Laureate, Seamus Heaney said:
If ever there was a place that deserved to be preserved in the name of the dead generations from pre-historic times up to historic times up to completely recently - it was Tara. I think it literally desecrates an area - I mean the word means to de-sacralise and for centuries the Tara landscape and the Tara sites have been regarded as part of the sacred ground.
TARA ON ENDANGERED LISTS
The World Monuments Fund, Smithsonian Institution and Sacred Sites International have placed Tara on endangered sites list, and others such as the International Celtic Congress, the Archaeological Institute of America, the Landmarks Foundation, the City of Chicago and the Massachusetts Archaeological Society have issued statements condemning the M3 route.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION v. IRELAND, LAWSUIT
The European Commission is currently taking a lawsuit against Ireland in the European Court of Justice against Ireland, for illegally demolishing the Lismullin national monument, which was discovered in the pathway of the M3 in 2007, after being voted on of the Top Ten Most Important Discoveries in the world in 2007 by Archaeology magazine. The Irish authorities refused to heed the Commission's demand that demolition be halted, and construction is proceeding despite the EU legal action.
DELAY OF UNESCO NOMINATION FOR TARA
The Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, has delayed nomination of the Hill of Tara to become a UNESCO site, until the M3 motorway is complete. UNESCO has stated that it cannot intervene, until Ireland completes the nomination, which was due to take place at the World Heritage Committee Meeting in Seville, in June 2009.
BREACHES OF UN LAW
It is clear that the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage protects all sites of outstanding universal value, even if they are not on the World Heritage List. Other UN agreements, such as the UN Global Compact, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, both human rights Covenants, and the UN Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples also require that Tara receive the highest level of protection possible.
APPEAL TO UN TO INTERVENE
The only body that can now intervene and save the Hill of Tara is the United Nations. This petition is directed to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, and asks that you intervene in the Tara crisis, and begin a problem-solving initiative, which will protect Tara and allow the M3 to be completed.
The UN must intervene now and enforce UN law, on behalf of the people of Ireland, the Irish Diaspora, and both the global community.
_________________________________________________________
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP SAVE TARA
Please forward this petition to:
- all of your friends
- local and national Irish cultural groups
- historical and archaeological organisations
- political representatives
WE MUST REACH OUR GOAL OF 1,000,000 signatures by Dec 31, 2009
JOIN TARAWATCH
Hill of Tara UNESCO public consultation site, hosted by TaraWatch
CONTACT TARAWATCH
Suite 108
The Capel Building
Mary's Abbey
Dublin 7
Republic of Ireland
353-87-132-3365
info@tarawatch.org
THE HILL OF TARA
The Hill of Tara, Ireland's premier national monument and internationally renowned cultural icon, is being desecrated by construction of the M3 motorway. The works are in breach of international law, which protects this site for humanity, and the United Nations must intervene now.
Lying 30 miles north of Dublin, it was Ireland's capital for millennia; where over 142 kings were crowned, dating back to 3,000 BC. Since then, hundreds of monuments were built on the slopes and in the surrounding landscape. Today, the cultural landscape is defined by the remains of a number of defensive Iron Age hillforts which surround the Hill, lying approximately 2-3 miles away.
THE M3 MOTORWAY
The M3 motorway is being built by the Irish Government, in public private partnership with Siac and Ferrovial construction companies, through the centre of this landscape, and a 50 acre interchange is being built 1,000 metres from the summit. Already, dozens of archaeological sites within the landscape have been excavated and demolished, and construction is due to be completed in 2010.
CELEBRITY SUPPORT FOR THE TARAWATCH CAMPAIGN
The campaign to save Tara, and re-route the M3 motorway has reached a critical point. Celebrities such as Bono, Seamus Heaney, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Gabriel Byrne, Colm Toibin , Louis le Brocquy and Jim Fitzpatrick, supported by hundreds of international experts in Irish history, archaeology and mythology have spoken out against the M3 route. National surveys show that the vast majority of Irish people want Tara protected, and made into a UNESCO site.
Nobel Laureate, Seamus Heaney said:
If ever there was a place that deserved to be preserved in the name of the dead generations from pre-historic times up to historic times up to completely recently - it was Tara. I think it literally desecrates an area - I mean the word means to de-sacralise and for centuries the Tara landscape and the Tara sites have been regarded as part of the sacred ground.
TARA ON ENDANGERED LISTS
The World Monuments Fund, Smithsonian Institution and Sacred Sites International have placed Tara on endangered sites list, and others such as the International Celtic Congress, the Archaeological Institute of America, the Landmarks Foundation, the City of Chicago and the Massachusetts Archaeological Society have issued statements condemning the M3 route.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION v. IRELAND, LAWSUIT
The European Commission is currently taking a lawsuit against Ireland in the European Court of Justice against Ireland, for illegally demolishing the Lismullin national monument, which was discovered in the pathway of the M3 in 2007, after being voted on of the Top Ten Most Important Discoveries in the world in 2007 by Archaeology magazine. The Irish authorities refused to heed the Commission's demand that demolition be halted, and construction is proceeding despite the EU legal action.
DELAY OF UNESCO NOMINATION FOR TARA
The Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, has delayed nomination of the Hill of Tara to become a UNESCO site, until the M3 motorway is complete. UNESCO has stated that it cannot intervene, until Ireland completes the nomination, which was due to take place at the World Heritage Committee Meeting in Seville, in June 2009.
BREACHES OF UN LAW
It is clear that the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage protects all sites of outstanding universal value, even if they are not on the World Heritage List. Other UN agreements, such as the UN Global Compact, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, both human rights Covenants, and the UN Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples also require that Tara receive the highest level of protection possible.
APPEAL TO UN TO INTERVENE
The only body that can now intervene and save the Hill of Tara is the United Nations. This petition is directed to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, and asks that you intervene in the Tara crisis, and begin a problem-solving initiative, which will protect Tara and allow the M3 to be completed.
The UN must intervene now and enforce UN law, on behalf of the people of Ireland, the Irish Diaspora, and both the global community.
_________________________________________________________
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP SAVE TARA
Please forward this petition to:
- all of your friends
- local and national Irish cultural groups
- historical and archaeological organisations
- political representatives
WE MUST REACH OUR GOAL OF 1,000,000 signatures by Dec 31, 2009
JOIN TARAWATCH
Hill of Tara UNESCO public consultation site, hosted by TaraWatch
CONTACT TARAWATCH
Suite 108
The Capel Building
Mary's Abbey
Dublin 7
Republic of Ireland
353-87-132-3365
info@tarawatch.org
Dear United Nations,
Please intervene in the international dispute over the Hill of Tara and the M3 motorway in Ireland, and save this site of outstanding universal value to humanity.
The Hill of Tara is Ireland's premier national monument, and internationally renowned cultural icon. Lying 30 miles north of Dublin, it was Ireland's capital or millennia; where over 142 kings were crowned, dating back to 3,000 BC. Since then, hundreds of monuments were built on the slopes and in the surrounding landscape. Today, the cultural landscape is defined by the remains of a number of defensive Iron Age hillforts which surround the Hill, lying approximately 2-3 miles away.
The M3 motorway is being built by the Irish Government, in public private partnership with Siac and Ferrovial construction companies, through the centre of this landscape, and a 50 acre interchange is being built 1,000 metres from the summit. Already, dozens of archaeological sites within the landscape have been excavated and demolished, and construction is due to be completed in 2010.
The World Monuments Fund, Smithsonian Institution and Sacred Sites International have placed Tara on endangered sites list, and others such as the International Celtic Congress, the Archaeological Institute of America, the Landmarks Foundation, the City of Chicago and the Massachusetts Archaeological Society have issued statements condemning the M3 route.
The European Commission is currently taking a lawsuit against Ireland in the European Court of Justice against Ireland, for illegally demolishing the Lismullin national monument, which was discovered in the pathway of the M3 in 2007, after being voted on of the Top Ten Most Important Discoveries in the world in 2007 by Archaeology magazine. The Irish authorities refused to heed the Commission's demand that demolition be halted, and construction is proceeding despite the EU legal action.
The Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, has delayed nomination of the Hill of Tara to become a UNESCO site, until the M3 motorway is complete. UNESCO has stated that it cannot intervene, until Ireland completes the nomination, but it is clear that the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage protects all sites of outstanding universal value, even if they are not on the World Heritage List. Other UN agreements, such as the UN Global Compact, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, both human rights Covenants, and the UN Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples also require that Tara receive the highest level of protection possible.
The only body that can now intervene and save the Hill of Tara is the United Nations. This petition is directed to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, and asks that you intervene in the Tara crisis, and begin a problem-solving initiative, which will protect Tara and allow the M3 to be completed.
Thank you for your kind consideration in this critical matter.
A Song For Tara-Skryne// All chased across the land and through the hills/ Rejecting fights, they kept their purest wills/ While those who wouldn’t budge and kept their ground/ Were swallowed up—now none of them are found./ But those who gave their land up willingly,/ Thinking there’s farther out we still can be/ Were pushed into the land no one had seen/ Through seas to lands where no one yet had been/ Five thousand years ago they took the ground/ That no one yet had conquered—no one’d found/ They saw the land was mercifully green—/ The lushest land that they ever had seen./ The air was clean; the sea was full of fish/ For greater luck they would not ever wish/ They built of rock a proud community/ And worked with one another peacefully/ Their earth-made monuments were stone & round,/ Those that the people now call fairy-mound./ They were not aided by metallurgy,/ Yet how precise their structures prove to be./ They measured time out by the constant sun/ And shared their knowledge gained with everyone./ But knowledge shared was only knowledge learned/ If those with ears to hear for knowledge yearned./ A thousand years ago their language lost;/ Now we can only wonder—at what cost?/ And yet what little left of them remains/ A roadway seeks to trash at greatest pains.
If not them, who? If not now, when? Time grows short.
it is so important to me because it is everything that is irish and it shows the lack of respect that this gov shows to our heritage and historical and ancestoral values
there is not much left in our heritage as it is so they need to step in and stop this lunasy.aiden murphy
I am Irish in my ancestry and have traced back to Brian Boru. He may have been crowned there and I wish to travel and see it while it is still in the form that it is now.
It is an important venue. VERY important to the Irish.
The Hill of Tara is a sacred place!!! I'm not sure that christians would like that a motorway cross the city of Vatican, or Lourdes for example!! It's one of the oldest sacred places in Europe and it must remain just like it is!!!
I was sure that this place was already an UNESCO site: it is incredible it is not yet!!! it should be classed as humanity treasure!!!!
The Hill of Tara has deep significance and resonance to those of Irish descent who consitute the Irish Diaspora - flung far and wide across the oceans. We petition that the Hill of Tara is protected as a World Heritage site and that there is no threat of development to its vicinity. Go riabh maith agat. Lucas Mac an Airchinnigh
Tara is of great importance not only in Ireland. It is a unique site that is the heritage of Celtic People everywhere.
Tara is a world historic treasure. The UN should help protect it.
Destroying beautiful land for greed is just plain wrong!!! What was the Irish Government thinking when they decided to destroy Tara. How can they be for the people, when they destroy a peoples heritage?
The UN needs to step in and save Tara because the M3 project goes against International Law. If the UN does not stop this project, than the UN is giving full permission to break international laws.
It has significant archeological and therefore an unknown amount of impact towards the true understanding of ancient Irish culture and society. It would be one thing if everything were known about it. But precious little is known about it. It deserves the respect to at least learn all we can about it before obliterating it for future generations.
Because it seems amply apparent that the government of Ireland cares not one whit for it, while many of the Irish people do. So someone must at least try to do something to prevent an action that all of Ireland will later regret.
Why do you believe that destoying a beautiful ancient site will make road travel better? The roadway can go around the site not through it stop this crazy idea before you destroy a national treasure.
The Hill of Tara is a very precious thing to many people and has roots so much further back than most of N. America. Please do not let a road way destroy history.
It was a beautiful area, and a window on to thousands of years of Irish history, culture and religion, and should not have been desecrated in this way and partially destroyed.
The UN should do its best to preserve sites and landscapes of importance either to local people or to people of the world.
This is our heritage, the real heritage of Ireland...
due to its historical significance---way too many things here in the US have been destroyed due to progress---do not do that to this piece of land!
T Is a unique place with such a enormous history, we lost somuch in this world already, pleasy preserve this!
because its not only countrywide important, but worldwide!
In 1992 I was privileged to be taken to the Hill of Tara by the caretaker, & there, standing on the highest point, could see all four fields of the land from which my parents' families had been forced into bitter exile to the furtherest, driest corner of the planet. And now, as the Irish community in Victoria is struggling to claw back, word by word, acre by acre, its own small Gaeltacht we hear of this terrible desecration. It seems as though all the sacrifices of 1789, of 1803 and beyond, come to nought when there's a profit to be made! Save Tara, save our soul, save the Revolution! Dr. E. Reilly (Victoria Uni. Melbourne)
If the merchants of Dublin fail in their duties to preserve our people's heritage, then that responsibility will be taken away from them by the people! Whether the UNO is capable of doing anything other than posturing is another question, but it may well be the only way of exerting effective pressure.
One time more, the old celtic culture must be destroyed by what they call "civilisation and progres"!... That's stupid...
Un must take care and save the diversity of the cultures all around the world. It's our common property.It is also our greater richness!
My mom talked about it incessantly
No one elso gives a tinkers damn
What is worthier? A new motorway communication or the communication of people with their history, shared traditions and values??? I think national history should be respected, national heritage sites should be explored and preserved and new roads should be built accordingly. Tara Hill and Valley should be naturally protected by everybody as the memory of the time, of the connection of past, present and future.
This is an area of outstanding beauty and is steeped in history. The Hill of Tara is known as the Stonehenge of Ireland. Our politicians are not looking at the bigger picture, we need the UN to intervene and speak on the citizens behalf CAUSE WE DON'T WANT A MOTORWAY RUNNING ANYWHERE NEAR THIS SITE. The policticians in power argue that it is going nowhere near the buriel sites and they have half of the locals convinced. The other half know better!!!
We need the UN to listen to our Plea, please
As a geologist and mining engineer, protection of cultural features is always a deep concern to me in my work. I understand that modern society must develop, but please, not at the expense of such an important historical landmark. Ireland was the land of my forefathers from 300 years ago, but that rich cultural heritage still remains in my family to this very day.
I have written to every MP in Ireland and the EU on this issue, but most seem to have too much cotton stuffed in their ears to listen. The UN is the organization of last hope. Please, join me and raise your voice and clearly state that Tara is not just for Ireland, but it is a world historical site that must be preserved for the future generations!
The hill of Tara is Irelands history . it should stay .
the UN should protect the hill of Tara because it is a sacred monument . to the pepole .
We visited this site in 2009 it was fantastic. What a loss to the world this would be!!!!!!!
This is one of those places that you always hear of when talk turns to the old country, and to lose any part of it would tear a bit more of our ancestor's stories away from those of us living across the pond.
The UN is there to foster brotherhood and cooperation, and this symbol ties citizens from two nations together by bonds of shared ancestry.
It represents the history of my ancestors' land and should be respected as well as preserved.
I believe the UN can help in events such as this.
One of the oldest untuched archeological sites in the world is at risk by a motorway. Please help to preserve it.
Yes, of course
This is an important archeological, cultural, and spiritual site. It should be preserved, not destroyed or desescrated by a motorway being built on top of it.
Tara is a sacred place and the seat of the ancient high Kings of Éire. A most beautiful valley in which many bodies were buried, laid to rest. Only to be dredged up by Fianna Fáil's machine and are yet to be re-interred into the soil. The bones are not where they should be.
Where do I start? How is it that money, greed, bad decisions and bad contractual arrangements, even politician's lies can hold a country's people to ransom - force them to take extreme measures to save a small plot of land from decimation to provide massive roads for vehicles whose fuel is limited to less than 20 years? What are they going to drive on them when there's no fuel left? WTF is it all about . .
This is a most important site and it is a disgrace that it will be destroyed in such a short sighted manner.I wish the EU and UNESCO would step in and stop this madness.
This is the true Heart of Ireland and the greatest historical spot in Ireland. All our history revolves around this Hill of Tara. Please designate and do everything posible to save this incredible place from ruin by a highway. Gabe Sheridan
The United Nations stands for all the nations of the world, and their collective desire to save what is best for humanity for future generations. No spot on earth is more important than this hill of the Celtic Irish. Gabe Sheridan
Cultural.
Protector of threatened world culture.
It is the home to many creatures yet to be discovered. And I do believe in the Fey. But still, Fey or not, we got to go green. Save the environment.
UN got the power and treat it as doing a good deed. You wouldn't feel good depriving of home to many animals.
Tara is the heart of Irish/Celtic culture and heritage. It is a sacred place that needs to be respected, researched, and admired. Plowing a motorway through Tara is like an occupying force deliberately wiping an entire race off the face of the earth.
