A Donegal developer has questioned the value of archaeological studies at building sites following a lengthy construction delay and the accumulation of large expenses when all that was found was a big rock.
Brendan Dunnion said yesterday he paid €36,000 for an archaeological report on a suspected prehistoric tombstone which turned out to be a large boulder.
A pre-planning condition handed down by Donegal County Council was that an archaeological assessment report be carried out on the site of a new SuperValu shopping centre in Ballybofey.
Mr Dunnion had been granted permission to build a 3,681 sq m (40,000 sq ft) retail development at the former Finn Harps training ground on Trusk Road.
"A condition of our planning was that an archaeologist had to be present as we were removing the top soil.
"We unearthed a big rock, and she [the archaeologist] thought it was a 4,000 or 5,000-year-old tombstone," Mr Dunnion said.
"Work was stopped immediately, and three more archaeologists were called in, and I had to pay for them too.
"They stopped us working for a month and cost me €36,000 as I had to pay for more archaeologists and a report that came to nothing," said Mr Dunnion.
He tried to explain to the archaeologists what they had really found.
"I told them exactly what it was at the start. I said that back years ago farmers used to light fires under rocks until it cracked, then they would break it up manually. But they wouldn't listen.
"I am now left wondering if the archaeologists or anyone else has to answer for this.
There is nothing in this report but photographs. If they found gold the Government would have taken it away to Dublin.
"All they left me with was a big rock and an even bigger bill." Work is now continuing on the €17 million development which will consist of a mixed-used building, car parking and storage at lower ground level.
The ground floor will consist of retail space, including a large SuperValu store, and 40 apartments with terraced gardens on the first and second floors.
The council did not respond to our query about the matter at the time of going to press.