The State never intended to do any damage to the ruins of Carrickmines Castle while building a section of the M50 motorway over the site, the High Court heard yesterday.
Lawyers for the Attorney General, Mr Rory Brady, and the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, made the comments as they opened their defence to a constitutional challenge to the south Dublin portion of the €596 million South Eastern Motorway.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has been ordered to stop work on the controversial M50 route pending a full hearing on an action being taken by Dublin conservationist Mr Dominic Dunne. He claims Section 8 of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act 2004 - which allowed for the partial demolition of the ruins of Carrickmines Castle - is unconstitutional and contrary to EU directives.
However, Mr James Connolly SC, for the State, said yesterday it believed it was acting entirely within the law, and that it never intended to do any damage to the stone fortifications of the medieval castle. "It was never intended to do any damage to a national monument. What Minister Cullen did was exercise his discretionary powers under the legislation and make an administrative decision.
"It wasn't law-making, it wasn't a development consent, just another layer of statutory restrictions."
Earlier Miss Justice Mary Laffoy said she expected to give her judgment "not later than next Tuesday". Making their closing submissions, lawyers for the plaintiff compared Carrickmines Castle to the Derrynaflan chalice, found by a father and son in a Co Tipperary bog in 1980.
A Supreme Court decision had ruled that the priceless 8th century hoard was the property of the State, and should be stored in the National Museum.
Mr Frank Callanan SC, for Mr Dunne, said: "Every citizen has the constitutional right to the private enjoyment of something public; that is, a national monument."