Archaeologists, historians and environmental campaigners said last night they were "appalled" and "incensed" by the expected loss of about 40 per cent of the Carrickmines Castle site in south Dublin, under new proposals drawn up by the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan.
The Minister said yesterday his proposals would allow the final leg of the M50 south-eastern motorway to proceed on schedule, while preserving "extensive areas" of the historic and archaeological site.
The medieval site was excavated by a team of archaeologists for two years, and significant finds were unearthed.
However, the work remained unfinished when the dig ended in August to facilitate the new road.
"I'm not comfortable about it. I'd prefer not to have to make this decision," Mr Brennan said yesterday.
He estimated that about 60 per cent of the medieval site would be saved, while some structures would be dismantled and reconstructed elsewhere. "You'll have the actual 60 per cent plus a glimpse of what the 40 per cent was actually like," he said. Mr Brennan has asked the National Roads Authority to raise and tilt the Glenamuck Road roundabout so that features of the castle site could be preserved in place and viewed by the public. A 50-metre section of a fosse - a defensive structure - will be retained under the roundabout.
A "significant representative section" of the fosse will be removed from under the motorway route and reconstructed in another part of the site, where an archaeological park is proposed.
An 18th-century farmhouse on the site will be retained and could be used for some sort of heritage facility.
An Taisce said the latest proposals were "a huge disappointment". Mr John O'Sullivan, An Taisce's planning officer, dismissed Mr Brennan's assertion that about 60 per cent of the site would be saved and said about 90 per cent would be lost.
An Taisce was now considering its options, he said, insisting that this was not the end of the matter.
Dr Seán Duffy, chairman of Friends of Medieval Dublin, said this would set an "appalling precedent" whereby private developers could refuse to protect archaeological or historic structures on the grounds that the State did not protect them at Carrickmines.
He said the environmental impact statement was flawed and so the decision to approve the road was flawed. "I have absolutely no doubt that this will end up in the European Commission," Dr Duffy said.
The Green Party said it was "a dark day for Irish archaeology". "Despite this being one of the richest archaeological finds since Wood Quay, Minister Brennan has not moved the motorway or the associated roads an inch east or west of the original route," Mr Ciarán Cuffe, Green Party environment spokesman said. Several people opposed to the work on the site compared it with Wood Quay, the controversial site on Dublin's south quays which was built on after remains of the Viking city were discovered over 30 years ago.
Mr Cuffe said he knew of several groups of people who were considering taking out an injunction against the NRA developing the site and appealing to the European Court.
Dr Howard Clarke of the Department of Medieval History at University College Dublin said the Minister's proposals seemed to be no more than "tokenism". He said it was a minimalist approach to the compromises sought by An Taisce. "It's a move in the right direction, but it's a rather small one, designed to appease the conservationists," he said.
Some parts of the site had not been excavated and now their worth would never be known, he added.
The group of about 12 protesters sitting in at the Carrickmines site said they were more determined than ever to continue their protest. Mr Ruadhan MacEoin, group spokesman, said: "This protest is only beginning to gather momentum. This spans all socio-economic groups and all kinds of political concerns."
