[marmurr1916]

Originally Posted by marmurr1916

Just sent this email to Frank McDonald.

Frank McDonald's reply.

XXXX, here's what the EIS commissioned by Meath County Council and the NRA has to say -- proving that there was no distortion on my part! ... Frank

10.0 ARCHITECTURAL, ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE
10.1 Archaeology and Cultural Heritage
The route is just over 500m from the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Brú na
Boínne; the Site, comprising the three main prehistoric sites of the Brú na Bóinne
Complex, Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth, situated on the north bank of the River
Boyne, was primarily designated as a World Heritage Site as it holds Europe's
largest and most important concentration of prehistoric megalithic art. The
monuments there had social, economic, religious and funerary functions (UNESCO
2009).

[Roryhy]

Originally Posted by marmurr1916

Just sent this email to Frank McDonald.

Its to the west of the western edge!

[Amtmann]

That's very specious coming from Frank. As a man who makes his living through words he should know that his formulation is quite ambiguous and suggests that the road will be within 500m of one of the extant monuments.

[spacetweek]

Originally Posted by Chris_5339762

The cynic inside me says that they purposefully picked a stupid route like this to cause legal problems and delay the project. They dont want to bypass Slane as it would be too tempting to bypass the M1 toll.

It must be a huge cynic inside you so - because that is a ridiculously cynical thing to say.

[Roryhy]

New word for the day-

spe⋅cious

  /ˈspiʃəs/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [spee-shuhs] Show IPA –adjective 1. apparently good or right though lacking real merit; superficially pleasing or plausible: specious arguments. 2. pleasing to the eye but deceptive. 3. Obsolete. pleasing to the eye; fair.

[Irish and Proud]

Originally Posted by marmurr1916

Just sent this email to Frank McDonald.

Good on you mate!

[Irish and Proud]

Frank McDonald, all I can say as a Meathman is:

Stay out of Meath!

Maybe Dublin isn't doing things your way (M50 Upgrade, N4 Upgrade, N7 Upgrade, DPT, R136 etc), and if you think Meath will succumb to you fanatical thinking instead, think again - we will build whatever road we want and no, we're not knocking down Tara, Newgrange or any other major heritage site for that matter - Meath is a big county you know - plenty of room for motorways - and spaghettis for that matter!

In short, don't tempt us!

[Amtmann]

A couple of good facebook groups about this bypass have been set up.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gi...3932526&ref=ts
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gi...6560291&ref=ts

And a good pro-bypass site here: http://www.bypassslane.ie/

I think the BANANAs will make their stand here now. They haven't learned the lessons from Tara, and Salafia will be to the fore once more. Embittered by his defeat in Tara, they will probably be even more determined to stop this road from being built.

Question though: When is it likely to go to construction? The longer it takes, the more time Salafia and Co. will have to mobilise against the Slane Bypass. I think, though, that they won't receive much support from the public at all - not with the number of fatalities there.

[Chris_5339762]

It isnt one of the PPPs so is on the back burner until well past 2015.

[Amtmann]

Maybe the bananas will grow up in the meantime so.

[SlaneMan]

Frank Mcdonald is very clever. He uses fancy language to makes this sound like the end of the world.

Frank says: “The National Roads Authority is bent on pursuing a plan that would visually compromise the setting of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth”

Note the use of the word ‘setting’….

The relevant extracts from the EIS are as follows:

Newgrange:
“…combined with mitigation of obtrusive elements and screening of the main road corridor the development would not detract from the pastoral image of the landscape from this ancient viewpoint”

Knowth:
“Subject to mitigation over time of obtrusive elements and screening of the main road corridor the bridge itself would not detract from the timeless, pastoral landscape enjoyed from this ancient viewpoint”

Dowth:
“The new road corridor to the south of the river would be barely perceptible as it ran along the fringes of Cullen Hill from the N2 between the landmarks of Newgrange and Slane Hill. The river crossing would not be visible from this viewpoint. Appropriate screen and woodland planting would ensure, at this distance, its complete integration in the landscape”

Given that Knowth is the closest I have uploaded the pictures from the EIS that show the existing view from Knowth and a computer generate view after the bypass is in place. There is a bridge there but you have to hunt for it! This not that surprising as it is 1 mile and half away. Pictures can be seen here

http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?oid=286896560291&view=user#!/photo.php?pid=58848&op=1&o=user&view=user&subj=286896560291&aid=-1&oid=286896560291&id=100000673604505

Note also the existing very busy N51 can also be seen passing 0.7 miles from Knowth and this has not caused a problem.

[SlaneMan]

This is a link to the ‘before’ and ‘after’ Newgrange pictures. I have looked at the ‘after ‘picture for a while and I can’t see any difference. Note also that to take this picture you need to illegally stand on top of the mound at Newgrange
But these are just minor technical issues, aren’t they? Nothing to stop a good scare story...
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=...00000673604505
If the link does not work you can see this picture and lot of other relvant factual information at 'Save Newgrange - The Facts' on Facebook.
BTW, Apologies for the giant font in the last post.

[munchkin_utd]

there is a difference
the bridge is visible but the photo resolution is quite bad so hard to make out.
To a human eye the bridge would be much more obvious than you would see on a photo, even if the photo were to be of a decent resolution.

Slightly aside, it is interesting to not that the facebook group with 700 supporters for a Slane by-pass wants as an immediate measure a BAN on trucks through slane! Make them go the 2 miles from Ardee to the M1.
I'd nearly sign up on their group for that.

When the trucks are gone, Slane would be a much more pleasant and safe place and maybe the need for a bypass will seem less pressing.
(Conversly, if the trucks remain, and more people get killed/ injuired, the alleged need for a bypass appears greater)

[SlaneMan]

The existing N51 can be seen and is 0.7 miles from Knowth and the new bridge will be twice as far away. Nobody has complained about the N51. The EISs assessment that the bridge will not detract from the view seems pretty rational.

The proposed HGV ban has already been look into and is not practical. See the following for details

http://www.meath.ie/LocalAuthorities/TownCouncilsandLocalAreaOffices/SlaneElectoralAreaOffice/SlaneElectoralAreaMeetings/File,39252,en.doc


“Eugene Cummins then explained that a series of interventions would be implemented to improve safety in the village. He emphasised that the permanent solution to Slane’s problems was the bypass. He advised that because the revised bypass route was shorter there would be less land needed and the delivery process could be speeded up. He further advised that banning HGV’s was not a viable option and that any diversions put in place would have serious impacts on residents along, and users of, the alternative routes thus transferring safety problems to other parts of the road network. He confirmed that legal advice obtained confirmed that Meath County Council and the NRA had a statutory requirement to consider the needs of all road users.

Even if a non local HGV ban was somehow put in place, we will still would local HGVs and a huge volume of cars passing over very steep hills and 90 degree turns onto a single lane 600 year old bridge on the main artery between Dublin and Derry. Just this past Monday, we had a four car (ie no trucks) crash on the hill leading the bridge. These type of accidents just don’t get the publicity that that major 9 car/truck pile up did last March.

What new found supporters of the HGV ban don’t seem to understand is that the HGV ban is seen as a temporary effort to mitigate the problems until the real solution (ie the bypass) is but in place. Not alone will it the bypass remove all the N/S trucks and cars it will also allow local and E/W trucks to access the N2 via the relatively flat Drogheda road instead of driving down the very steep and dangerous road to the existing bridge.

[munchkin_utd]

The meath chronicle also has a good article on the dangers of the current situation.
It really brings across the point that something needs to be done in some way or other.
20 people have already died and it is 100% certain that more will follow.

Theres also some vigourous debate on the comment section below the article, also including submissions from honorary meathman Vincent Salafia!!

Last March, a nine-vehicle collision in the centre of the village left four people injured. Gardai claimed it was a miracle nobody had been killed in the accident which involved several families returning from the school run. At least six cars were written off and two lorries badly damaged.

John Ryle, who lives close to Slane Bridge, said he had seen some horrific sights over the years. "I remember the late Fr Dooley being paddled out in an inflatable dinghy to give the last rites to a truck driver who lay dying in his truck in the Boyne," he said.

http://www.meathchronicle.ie/news/me...s-protesters-/