Madam, - May I make a simple request to Ministers Brennan and Cullen before they head off on a well-earned summer break? On the day the Dáil went into recess, Mr Cullen placed an order before the House consenting to the demolition of Carrickmines Castle under the terms of the National Monuments Act. That order comes into force 21 working days after the Dáil reconvenes, which brings us to November 4th.
Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council will then request the High Court to lift the injunction imposed by the Supreme Court on February 24th last, restraining it from interfering with the monument, and this may well be granted. But that decision will be challenged on several grounds in the Supreme Court, another injunction will follow, and the whole matter will probably go to judicial review. It is almost beyond doubt that a year from now we will be no further on than we were last February.
My request to the Ministers is this. On their desks, for months, lies the answer to the Carrickmines impasse, including plans that show that the South-Eastern Motorway can run past rather than through Carrickmines Castle without additional cost or delay. All the Ministers have to do is get an independent engineer to look at the matter. Plans for the modified scheme can be drawn up and by the time they are back at their desks work can be under way on completing the M50 ahead of schedule and within budget, something all of us want.
Meanwhile, a noble castle that has been withstanding sieges for three-quarters of a millennium can at last breathe easy. - Yours etc.,
SEÁN DUFFY, FTCD, Chairman, Friends of Medieval Dublin, Trinity College, Dublin 2.