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GND NEWS SPECIAL SAVE TARA: 05 MAY, 2007 Two major surveys failed to discover ancient site
Save Tara has had a myspace site [http://www.myspace. com/hilloftara] since last September.
Bluegreenearth has supported this campaign via our websites at BlueGreenEarth and Island [Ireland From Below], both of which have links, as a collective, to Robert Allen's an talamh glas organisation. Save Tara have posted this bulletin... - Tim
Two major surveys failed to discover ancient site JEROME REILLY TWO major archaeological assessments were carried out three years ago in the same townland where the prehistoric site has just been discovered, halting work on the new M3 motorway. The two assessments were funded out of the €30m spent on archaeology along the entire M3 route - and both surveys concluded that no features of archaeological significance were discovered in the townland of Lismullin. Crucially, one of the surveys added a caveat that a significant portion of woodland was contained within the testing area and "this portion of road take was not archaeologically assessed". But last month archaeologists discovered what they are describing as a wooden version of Stonehenge - despite the earlier assessments which involved digging dozens of test trenches in the small townland. The Department of the Environment was notified of the discovery by the National Roads Authority (NRA) last month, but failed to tell Transport Minister Martin Cullen before he took part in a sod-turning ceremony for the M3 motorway last Monday. Just 24 hours later, it was confirmed that a site of archaeological importance had been discovered. Archaeologists say the site was most likely used for ritual ceremonies. It is also understood that a burial mound has been discovered, which was the final resting place of a woman of high status. However, the importance of the site has yet to be fully assessed and some archaeologists contacted by the Sunday Independent have expressed caution about claims that the find is of truly international importance. "There have been examples where the importance of discoveries made at other sites, particularly Carrickmines, have been blown out of proportion. We should be cautious," one senior archaeologist warned. However, experts who have visited the Lismullin site are convinced that the site could be of major significance. "It's very ancient and is a wooden equivalent of Stonehenge," said archaeologist Joe Fenwick from NUI Galway. "It consists of a large enclosure, and a high-status burial chamber seems to have come to light. It's several hectares in size, you're talking about a massive complex. Because of their nature, these timber henges are very rare. You could count them on the fingers of one hand. The timber rotted away a long time ago, but the features would be dug into the subsoil. It would take a large team digging for several months to excavate the site," he said. Fine Gael Transport spokeswoman Olivia Mitchell TD has said she was stunned to learn that more than 500 archaeologists, hired at a cost of €30m, managed to miss the four-acre historical site while excavating for the motorway. "This situation would be hilarious if it weren't so serious. In spite of hiring 500 archaeologists for the M3 project, and having spent €30m on archaeological work, the entire M3 project has been brought to a crashing halt by the discovery of a four-acre archaeological site in its path. "This was in spite of the fact that archaeologists were employed to dig a trench along the entire 59km of the route with cross trenches dug every 20 metres. This site isn't a small rath or a single standing stone, it's the size of three football fields. "There has clearly been a shocking waste of time and resources. But this find also puts the very future of the M3 motorway in jeopardy. We may now be looking at the possibility that the M3 will have to be rerouted at massive expense. This route was selected after many years of examination and excavation and after the NRA assured us this was a safe route in terms of archaeological significance. "The M3 is a crucial project which could save commuters from outside Dublin more than a week every year in travelling time. The existing N3 has already exceeded capacity and urgently needs to be replaced," she said. Article from todays Sunday Independent. Thanks for all of your support. UPDATE: Irish Independent, Monday 7th May. MORE national monuments have been uncovered along the contentious route of the M3 motorway, it was claimed last night. Referring to the site recently uncovered near the Hill of Tara, the Meath Archaeological and Historical Society said: "This is not the only national monument that has been discovered in this section of the motorway, it is simply the only one that the roads authorities have so far recognised as such." An enclosure uncovered at Lismullen, 2km from Tara, may be a sister site. SOURCE: Hill of Tara MySpace |
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GND NEWS SPECIAL ADVANCE PLANNING - LABOUR PARTY CONFERENCE (SEPTEMBER): MAY 02, 2007 CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AT THIS SEPTEMBER'S LABOUR PARTY CONFERENCE: AN OPEN LETTER FROM GEORGE MONBIOT, HAIFA ZANGANA ET AL. On 28 April 2003, US soldiers fired on a crowd of unarmed demonstrators outside a school in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, killing thirteen civilians, including two schoolchildren. Two days later, a US soldier fired a machine gun at another group of unarmed demonstrators outside a US army base. These incidents, and similar killings in Samarra and other towns in the 'Sunni Triangle' - for which no US soldier was ever put on trial - played a critical role in sparking the Sunni insurgency against the US/UK occupation. To date, at least 186,000 Iraqis have been killed by US-led forces (according to a Lancet-published study that we now know was regarded as 'robust' by the Ministry of Defence). The proportion of Iraqis who regard it as acceptable to attack 'coalition forces' has tripled from 17% in 2004 to 51% in 2007. We demand a fundamental change in British foreign policy, not merely a change in the leadership of the party in Government. We demand a commitment to peace and justice. This means withdrawing all British troops from Iraq and Afghanistan (as favoured by over 53% of British people in a recent YouGov poll), rejecting the renewal of Trident nuclear submarines, and publicly opposing any US assault on Iran. If these changes are not made then we call on the Stop The War Coalition to organise mass nonviolent civil disobedience at the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth this September.
Nadje al-Ali (author Iraqi Women: Untold Stories from 1948 to the Present)
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GND NEWS SPECIAL RE-TRIAL DATES FOR FAIRFORD 5: 01 MAY, 2007 RE-TRIAL DATES FOR FAIRFORD 5 Remember the massive demonstration on 15th February 2003, against the Iraq invasion? Seemed like the whole country was there and the streets of London were full to bursting with our great society in all its diversity, all railing against Tony Blair’s push for an invasion of Iraq. But Bush and Blair succeeded in peddling their lies round a pre-planned invasion and on 20th March 2003 our society lost the moral high ground. But those who marched in London saw through Blair’s lies, and five people physically tried to prevent this slaughter from happening. They were arrested at Fairford trying to delay the B52 bombers in the commission of war crimes, days before the nvasion of Iraq. In the four years since their arrest in March 2003 the Fairford Five have endured several court hearings, and trials at Bristol Crown Court. At Bristol Crown Court the juries would convict none of them. So our Justice System in its wisdom has decided to commit these five people, who refused to believe Blair’s lies, whose motives were simply selfless and humanitarian, for re-trial. The dates for their re-trials at Bristol Crown Court are as follows:- RE-TRIAL DATES 2007
Phil Pritchard and Toby Olditch on May 14th 2007. (Dates authenticated by Margaret Jones, one of the above defendants). The last round of trials saw great support for the Fairford Five in the public gallery at Bristol Crown Court, Small Street, (not far from the famous “Nails”). We must do it again, please get there if you can!
PREVIOUS TRIALS:
i) Sept 2006: Margaret (Monica) Jones & Paul Milling.
i) http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=25380 SOURCE: IndyMedia Bristol |
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STATEWATCH (MAY 16, 2007):
SOURCE: Statewatch:
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WORLD SOCIALIST WEBSITE (MAY 01 - JUNE 02, 2007): 2 June 2007 News & Analysis ----------------------------------------- Lebanese military resumes shelling of Palestinian camp http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jun2007/leba-j02.shtml As May death toll of US soldiers hits 124 Bush administration calls for permanent US military presence in Iraq http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jun2007/iraq-j02.shtml US antiwar protest groups silent on Cindy Sheehan's resignation from Democratic Party http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jun2007/shee-j02.shtml The G-8 summit and the Left Party of Germany http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jun2007/left-j02.shtml US: Dell, Motorola, IBM announce new job cuts http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jun2007/left-j02.shtml The US media "discovers" Pakistan's Musharraf is a dictator--why now? http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jun2007/paki-j02.shtml France: Guy Môquet, Sarkozy and the Stalinist school of falsification http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jun2007/moqu-j02.shtml Fianna Fail wins Irish election http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jun2007/irel-j02.shtml Australia: Former PM Whitlam testifies on 1975 murder of "Balibo Five" journalists http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jun2007/whit-j02.shtml Brazilian cane cutter died from working 70 days without break http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jun2007/cane-j02.shtml Workers Struggles ----------------------------------------- Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jun2007/labo-j02.shtml New in German -------------------------------------------- Der G8- Gipfel und "Die Linke" http://www.wsws.org/de/2007/jun2007/link-j02.shtml Erfolgreiche Kampagne der ISSE in Warschau http://www.wsws.org/de/2007/jun2007/isse-j02.shtml Nationalismus und Internationalismus in Polen http://www.wsws.org/de/2007/jun2007/heus-j02.shtml New in French -------------------------------------------- Bush décrète de nouvelles sanctions contre le Soudan francais/News/2007/juin07/020607_soudan.shtml Six mois après l’adhésion à l’Union européenne La crise politique s’intensifie en Roumanie et en Bulgarie francais/News/2007/juin07/020607_roumanie.shtml New in Portuguese -------------------------------------------- Alemanha: sindicato Verdi prepara liquidar a greve dos trabalhadores da Telekom http://www.wsws.org/pt/2007/jun2007/port-j02.shtml |