The long-running saga over the future of Carrickmines Castle is nearing an end with the signing of an order by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, allowing for work to resume at the site on the proposed route of the M50 motorway. Liam Reid reports.
A two-year legal action by environmentalists has cost the State an estimated €20 million in delays.
The National Roads Authority (NRA) confirmed yesterday that Mr Cullen signed a direction in the last fortnight which will allow for the removal of part of the remains of the medieval castle. A spokesman said work will get under way next month.
This means the final part of the M50, known as the South Eastern Motorway - going from Shankill to Ballinteer - will now be opened by the end of May next year. Limited stretches of the road will be opened before Christmas, an NRA official said. It is estimated that the cost of the South Eastern Motorway will be €596 million when completed. The M50 will go from Swords in north Co Dublin to Shankill in south Co Dublin. A loose group of conservationists, who called themselves the "Carrickminders", succeeded in halting work at the site since January last year. Last month the Oireachtas approved emergency legislation to enable work to resume. It gives the Minister for the Environment the final authority in relation to the preservation of sites of archaeological significance.
Mr Cullen issued a set of directions to Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Council under this legislation in the last fortnight to remove parts of the site.
The council is now awaiting final approval of a detailed plan for this from the Department of the Environment expected later this month. Although there could still be a last-minute High Court action, both the NRA and conservationists privately acknowledge it is unlikely to succeed.
Mr Ruadhan MacEoin, who has been involved with the Carrickminders, said yesterday the conservationists were "greatly concerned about the legal precedent for the protection of national monuments" set by the new legislation.