Plans by Minister for the Environment John Gormley to move the pre-Christian Turoe stone from its east Galway location have aroused stiff opposition in the locality.
The 2,000-year-old stone, which is said to be one of the last surviving examples of La Tène art in Europe, is due to be relocated to Galway City Museum to protect it from weathering.
The stone was moved about 360 metres (1,180 feet) in the 1850s, when it was transferred from the Rath of Feerwore, an Iron Age ringfort structure on Turoe Hill, to farmland in Bullaun, outside Loughrea.
Dr Kieran Jordan, of the Turoe Historical Society, said that while the stone required protection, this should take place on the site.
"With millions of euro being spent on rural development, removal of the very treasures that could attract visitors to rural areas is unfair," he said in a statement. "We would prefer to see proposals for development of an acclaimed Celtic tourist attraction site in rural west of Ireland."
The stone's extreme ornamentation is said to have baffled many researchers, raising questions as to why such an important artefact was located on Turoe Hill in Co Galway. Turoe Historical Society has established an online petition at www.turoestone.net to keep the stone at Turoe Pet Farm in Bullaun. The society will also hold a public meeting this Saturday at the Meadow Court Hotel in Loughrea.
The Department of the Environment said that the stone was being transferred to Galway City Museum for its own protection, in consultation with the director of the National Museum of Ireland.
