Bremore decision is a vindication for the heritage conservation lobby

The decision to move large parts of the proposed port infrastructure at Bremore, North Dublin, away from an area containing a cluster of Stone Age passage tombs is a vindication for the heritage conservation lobby, an expert on ancient Ireland has said.

Anthony Murphy, author of 'Island of the Setting Sun – In Search of Ireland's Ancient Astronomers', says that the planning decision avoids a probable decade-long battle between the archaeological community and the project's developers.

“Clearly, the backers of this proposal understand the nature and sensitivity of the archaeological complex at Bremore, and the scale of the legal battle which they would have to engage in if they proceeded with this flawed plan,” said Mr. Murphy.

Some campaigners had identified the Bremore port as "the next M3 battle".

“The Bremore complex is a cluster of passage-tombs, many examples of which are over 5,000 years old. Any proposal which would envisage the large-scale development in close proximity to such monuments is clearly untenable,” said Mr. Murphy.

Other passage-tomb complexes in Ireland include the world heritage site at Brú na Bóinne, incorporating the best-known examples of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth. Further examples are found on the hills of Loughcrew in Meath and at Carrowmore and Carrowkeel in Sligo.

“We are not dealing with a humble ringfort or souterrain here. Bremore is a site of national, if not international, importance, and utterly deserves conservation as a surviving remnant of a very distant age.”

Mr. Murphy, whose book attempts to unravel the purpose of ancient passage mounds by providing a thought-provoking merger of the studies of archaeology, astronomy and folklore, says a definitive plan for the preservation and protection of the Bremore monuments should now be put in place.

“These sites should not be just left to rot and decay in the landscape. We need a real plan to protect them for future generations. Other passage-tombs a short distance away at the Delvin estuary were destroyed as the sea encroached upon the coastline. Clearly, we don't want this to happen at Bremore.”

“The whole debacle over the construction of the M3 motorway through the Tara-Skryne valley shows that at Government level, there has been little or no concern for Ireland's ancient heritage, and development will come no matter what the cost.”

“However, there are a growing band of people, myself included, who believe we can have development and jobs and keep our heritage also. There are significant benefits to protecting, preserving and promoting our ancient sites, not least from a tourism perspective.”

“The latest news about Bremore is very welcome. It vindicates the stance taken by many groups, individuals and academics over the past decade relating to the route of the M3. While some may feel the M3 battle is lost, clearly the Bremore decision indicates that much greater consideration will be given to heritage sites in the future.”

“The cynical way of looking at this is that those involved just want to avoid lengthy legal battles and project delays, but the ultimate outcome is that Bremore will be saved from the awful fate which developers and some archaeologists call 'Preservation by Record', but which others call 'Destruction by Documentation'.”

This is a victory for common sense and a good decision by the port's backers. What it means is that the project may not now be delayed by legal moves and in fact the jobs will come sooner rather than later.

ENDS

Anthony Murphy can be contacted at mythicalireland@eircom.net
His website is http://www.mythicalireland.com
The decision to move some of the port infrastructure away from Bremore is reported here:
http://www.meathchronicle.ie/articles/1/34641

LMFM broadcast this on their news bulletins this morning, for which I was interviewed.

I am in shock. But I shouldn't be really under the circumstances. I know Irish heritage is at the bottom of the pile where many Irish people are concerned. I know many people are only interested in reading about celebrities, fashion, reality TV, holidays, property and food etc etc.

But I spoke to an Irish Independent journalist today about how significant the decision to move a lot of the proposed port infrastructure away from the Bremore passage-tombs is and was astonished with the reply.

This journalist basically said that it didn't sound like a news story, and that in the current climate I shouldn't be celebrating such a fact because people want jobs in favour of "some monument being saved".

I tried telling her that as a campaigner on heritage, I believed we could have our jobs and keep our heritage too, but to be honest I was flogging a dead horse. The fact that the Bremore tombs could be up to 6,000 years old doesn't make them any more significant in some people's eyes than if they were a couple of 18th century gate-posts.

We've lost our way, folks. 21st century Ireland is not the Ireland I want to be a proud citizen of. We've relegated our past and our heritage to something we can entertain the Yanks with, and that's all.

Well, mark my words. I think there is a significant minority of Irish people, and many more people across the globe, who would celebrate the re-positioning of a major infrastructure project away from an archaeologically-sensitive area.

It has, after all, been around for thousands of years. It would be nice if it lasted another few thousand . . .

At the very least, as a newspaper journalist myself, I can appreciate how the Bremore story might be controversial, no matter what opinion you take on it yourself. The fact that such a drastic decision has been taken proves that the whole M3 campaign was not a waste of time. It has yielded a result. And that result is that major infrastructure planners will perhaps choose their sites and locations a bit more carefully in future in order to avoid the unnecessary conflict with the heritage, archaeology, conservation, academic lobby, who after all only want to protect what is ours from destruction or damage by a small few for profit.

There were originally 11 candidate sites for this port project. Bremore was the winning choice. What process was followed that allowed an internationally-important archaeological site to become part of a huge super-port development? Clearly, the decision-making logic here was flawed from the beginning.

PLANS for a Dublin marine centre look doomed, despite claims a local authority has already spent €670,000 on the project.

The National Marine Conservation & Education Centre, planned for Bremore, near Balbriggan in north Dublin, has been in the pipeline for years.

However, with the project having secured planning permission, Fingal County Council has pulled €3m in funding for the centre.

The scheme will almost certainly not go ahead now.

But Pauline Beades of the Irish Seal Sanctuary (ISS), which is behind the centre, told the Herald the local authority has already splashed out €670,000 on an elaborate blueprint for the facility.

"We have been working with Fingal Co Council to develop the National Marine Conservation Centre -- Fingal pledged €3m and Failte Ireland pledged €2m. Everything is ready to go," Ms Beades said.

See full story on the Herald website at:
http://www.herald.ie/national-news/city-news/marine-centre-plans-may-be-axed-after-council-pulls-euro3m-funding-1599941.html

You know, sitting here thinking about this, I wonder how the heck anyone could have thought about building this project on top of the archaeology. Have a look at imagery in the following document (pages 2 and 29):

http://www.droghedaport.ie/cms/uploads/30_9_04.pdf

Then have a look at a Google Earth image showing the location of the passage tombs on this page:

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/536967

From what I can see in these images, the plan must have envisaged the complete destruction of the Bremore passage tombs.

It is obvious that geographically, this might be the perfect location for a deep water port. It's on a headland, jutting out into the sea. It's close to the M1 motorway and the Dublin-Belfast rail line.

But there were 11 sites being looked at originally. I know this because it was reported in the Drogheda Leader newspaper when I was its editor.

Surely the former Army camp at Gormanston could be looked at?

I am quite shocked that the national media haven't picked up on this story yet. This is a major change in what is an enormous plan. Whether you're for or against heritage conservation, this is still a big decision.

I have to say you really jumped the gun when you put out that press release, or perhaps that's why you did it.

i see evidence that this plan went go ahead eventually... or that any port built there could avoid the tombs even with this news
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=536

Not sure what you mean by me jumping the gun. The purpose of the press release was to highlight the fact that the sensitive archaeology FORCED the backers of the port to rethink their plans.

I'm not sure that any of this planned port will go ahead now in the current climate. Its purpose was to provide more capacity because the ports on the east coast were either at or near capacity. But port trade has gone down with the slump, so there's really no need for it. An expensive white elephant in my opinion.

i don't see any evidence that thats the case, any port built there of any size will go slap bang down on the monuments afaik, http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ire ... 32381.html

the reason you go no reaction cos nothing major changed

this new report backs the bremore port, at the very least the first phase will begin to go ahead at some point in the next 5-10 yrs...

Nonsense.

There is no money to build a port at Bremore. It would be premature and, most importantly, not needed. While there may be a need for more capacity in the future (20 years??) there is certainly no need for it now because of a decline in activity.

The fact of the matter is that the plans were revised because of the archaeology. A large chunk of the infrastructure will be built up the coast in County Meath, away from Bremore. Nothing will be built on the passage-tombs. If you think that's going to happen, good luck.

So what if a report "backs" the Bremore plan. Bremore, if it happens, is well into the future. Not sure if Noel Dempsey et al will be in Government by then the way things are going.

As the situation stands right now, the authorities are backing off on their bull-headed plans to railroad the port because of the archaeology. They know Bremore will be a Tara-M3 Part II, but even bigger. Why? Because there are four (maybe five) passage-tombs there. These tombs are possibly older than Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth. Passage-tomb clusters would be considered monuments of international importance. When they started building the M3 through Tara-Skryne, they were not immediately aware of any monuments in its actual path. Bremore is a different ball game completely.

Interesting that you should cite the Irish Times article as proof of your statement, because all I can see in it is DOUBT, all over the place. Take the following quote which is a mixture of doubt and scaremongering:



The "uncertainty" with Bremore is all about the archaeology. Even if they did try to proceed with it, they'd be locked in legal battles for a decade.

I wonder what your angle is. You're not a Drogheda Port Company representative by any chance? Or Treasury Holdings? I see you haven't even had the courage to put your name to your postings, never mind any information about who you actually are. At least people know who I am and what I stand for . . .

im just not clear the bremore cluster of tombs is no longer under threat,( apart from the general lack of protection/maintenance and what the archaeologists will do to it)



you leave open the possibility that it will be built eventually, we agree that it will delayed, the port plan hasn't been moved just part of the warehousing, you show me how a port will be built on the bremore outcrop and not concrete over the passage tombs...

Bremore port development may be "well into the future", but Drogheda Port Company has already applied to the Minister for Transport to alter the limits of the company's harbour under Section 3(2) of the Harbours (Amendment) Act 2009, presumably to facilitate development at Bremore. There was a notice to this effect in the Drogheda Independent of 29th July. The proposal is available for inspection only at Drogheda Garda Station (!), with submissions or observations to be made to the Dept of Transport within a period of 21 days from the date of the notice, which should mean before Wednesday 19th August.

The notice is also on the Port Co. website, though I could not access it from the 'news/public notices' menu on the homepage and had to use google:

http://www.droghedaport.ie/cms/publish/article_1062.shtml

It will be interesting to see what that application contains. Until then it's a bit difficult to comment.

Do you think the whole project will go ahead at Bremore? And soon?

The Drogheda Independent is reporting that there is doubt over the new port at Bremore. See the story here: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1194