1 July 2004
Dr. Henry: I thank Senator Cummins for sharing time. I welcome the Minister and commend him and his officials on the fact that the environment element of his Department appears to be in action — his speech is printed on both sides of the paper we were given. The heritage part, however, seems to have made a terrible mess of things. Senator Ormonde is being more than hopeful when she says she welcomes the Bill because it will deal with the Carrickmines situation but hopes that we will then go back to the drawing board. That will not happen. This Bill gives the Minister complete power to decide to destroy and deface national monuments. The part about consulting the National Museum is only a fig leaf. It does not mean the National Museum has a veto.
It is astonishing that the discovery of Carrickmines Castle was not looked upon as a good thing. It was not seen as being important for the area, which, apart from many affluent houses and a good tennis club, has little to recommend it. We could have made Carrickmines Castle an important feature of the area. I am sure all Members have been to see it; the remains are not extensive. The main problem was not with the M50 but the junction with Glenamuck Road and the fact that roundabouts were built to deal with the junction. We seem to be incapable of dealing with junctions in any other way, but roundabouts have not been successful in many cases. For example, the Red Cow roundabout is now known as the mad cow roundabout. There, we are told, a flyover will have to be built to deal with the traffic problems.
Senator Brady said we must be a laughing stock in Europe over the issue of Carrickmines. I presume he means we are a laughing stock because we did not engage someone in the National Roads Authority to have another look at how this junction could be dealt with. The problem is due to only one of four roundabouts. If one looks at the valley, the possibility of a flyover is obvious. I admit that most of such constructions I have seen were built by the master road-builders of Europe, the Italians. I was in Verona when an important archaeological site was found in a pretty shabby part of the city. The next time I was there the area had become the important Porta Antica Leona. The road had been built in such a way that passers-by could see down into the excavations. A piece of an original door had been found on the side of a building and fixed up. This is so unlike what happened in Jamestown, where, to help the traffic get through, the last little bit of the wall that had once surrounded the town was knocked down. How short-sighted can we be? We keep insisting that we must bring tourists to the country, but we need to have something to show them.
We should remember what happened in Slea Head the other day, when American tourists were brought there only to find that a whole earthworks had been displaced by someone local. When a motorway was being built in Bolgheri and it was discovered that the proposed route threatened an avenue of cypresses that had been mentioned in a poem by Dante, it was simply decided that the motorway should have a bigger loop so the cypresses could be saved. Everyone knew about the great avenue of cypresses. Bolgheri has not much else apart from a decent beach. An archaeological site was discovered in a busy area of Cologne. The Germans, like, ourselves, are into hefty roadworks, but when Roman mosaics were discovered near the cathedral, they managed to raise the road and preserve what was underneath. Now tourists are able to go in and out of the site.
We are incredibly short-sighted. I am glad Senator Cummins mentioned the Viking settlement in Waterford. This legislation will be able to deal with that. When we were talking yesterday I mentioned I was one of the foolish people who had tried to preserve Woodquay. Years afterwards, when I was near York, I decided to go and see the incredible Viking settlement there. I went to an area, which would not fill two rooms, but we had to go around in little boxes on a track because the site was considered so precious. All one ever hears about York, apart from its tremendous minster, is, its Viking remains.
We must look after our heritage because it is not just the past that is important but what we will do with it in the future. I sincerely hope the Minister will reconsider this legislation because it will allow damnable things to happen to many important sites around the country. There are many more which will be affected. The beautifully preserved Trim Castle is one of the loveliest places one could see and we are to have a Holiday Inn beside it. This is a very foolish Bill and I will oppose it.
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