The director of the National Museum has expressed satisfaction at the manner in which he has been consulted over the M3 Hill of Tara motorway project.
However, Dr Pat Wallace said: "I would have general concerns for the whole way the environment of the country may be compromised in all this frenetic development."
Speaking following a meeting yesterday with Department of the Environment officials, the senior archaeologist refused to comment on the decision to go ahead with the motorway.
However, he said: "Parts of the country's heritage are being damaged every hour in every part of the island."
Dr Wallace wrote to the department earlier this year stating his objections to the M3 project. He was subsequently asked by senior officials from the Department of Arts to refrain from giving evidence to an Oireachtas committee on the controversy.
Dr Wallace told RTÉ Radio yesterday that "it would have been difficult for me to appear before that committee" while the consultative process was ongoing.
"I bring my best advice to the table of the Minister for the Environment and he has to make decisions above and beyond that."
However, Dr Wallace remarked: "If I was King of Ireland, Ard Rí na hÉireann, I would be fighting for archaeology on a 24-hour basis. I would definitely put archaeology and heritage before everything. But I suppose that is why I am not an elected person. I am just a public servant with an archaeological training."
