Tara Arrests

It comes as no surprise that the 7 year struggle for people to be heard on the Tara/M3 catastrophe should culminate in arrests and prison. It is indeed a sorry day for democracy when a society fails so miserably to listen to it's own citizens that people find there is nothing left to do but physically resist the destruction of that which they care about.

The action of those who stand in front of machinery is simply the logical outer expression of frustration and hopelessness that many of us feel in our hearts about the Tara/M3 tragedy. It may be a small number of people who are prepared to use their bodies to physically resist the heavy machinery, but many of us are deeply upset about what is happening and feel the oppressive weight of that machinery in our hearts and in our spirits. 

The weight is all the heavier because despite the moral argument having come clearly down on the side of protecting Tara, the road proceeds to destroy this unique landscape as fast as it can. Where then is right and wrong in all of this?   The ‘system' just ploughs on regardless and those really responsible are not held accountable.

It seems that moral arguments and concerns about deeper values are being rolled over and trampled underfoot like the national monuments and rain soaked fields of the Tara-Skryne valley. What a sorry state of affairs for a country once proudly known as the island of saints and scholars.