Conservationists opposed to the route of the M3 motorway have expressed disappointment after they failed to meet Minister for the Environment John Gormley at the Custom House in Dublin yesterday.
The conservationists said they were told that the Minister, one of two new Green Party members of the Cabinet, was too busy preparing for his appearance in the Dáil to answer parliamentary questions today.
They also said they were told he would later be busy preparing for an EU meeting.
They said they were particularly disappointed to have been told that the Minister had an "open door policy" only to be informed subsequently that gardaí would be called if they refused to leave the building.
Tara Watch said that it had called a meeting at the Custom House yesterday to demand that the Minister halt works on newly-discovered sites along the route of the M3 motorway.
The group claimed that two new archaeological sites revealed to the public on Saturday had been damaged. It claimed that a capstone had been broken and some wooden artifacts had been exposed to the elements.
It said that the damage had been noted by campaigners on "monuments watch" at Lismullin.
Tara Watch said that the monuments were a stone underground chamber and an underground stone passageway with wooden entrances.
A spokesman, Vincent Salafia, said that both were part of "what appears to be a complex of underground souterrains".
The National Roads Authority (NRA) has played down the finds, however, saying that their existence was known.
A spokesman for the Department of the Environment confirmed that the protest had taken place at the Custom House.
He said that officials had met the protesters to discuss their concerns but added that the Minister had not been able to meet them in person.
