A campaign to save the Woodstown Viking site outside Waterford city will be launched at a public meeting this week.
Speakers will include the local historian and writer, Mr Jack O'Neill of the Waterford Historical and Literary Society and Dublin-based archaeologist, Ms Paula Geraghty.
The site was discovered during preparations for the city's bypass in May.
At the time, the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen said the site, which dates from the ninth century, was of "enormous importance internationally" and had already yielded some "quite extraordinary" finds, including lead weights and gaming pieces.
Archaeologists and environmentalists have been calling for a complete excavation of the Woodstown site since it was discovered but until now its fate has been uncertain.
The National Roads Authority has preserved an area of about 100 square metres near the river-bank for excavation.
Last May, Mr John Maas, an archaeologist who commissioned a flight to take photographs said crop marks suggested a large town predating Waterford city was located in the area.
The pictures indicated that the settlement extended along the riverbank, thereby strengthening the case for a wider excavation.
Archaeologists commissioned by the National Roads Authority, said at a conference this month that Woodstown one of the most important Viking sites in Europe.
The public meeting will take place at the Granville Hotel, Waterford, on Thursday, September 16th, at 8.00 p.m.