Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 June 2018
50. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the reason her Department and the national monuments service, NMS, have not protected the togher in Mayne Bog, County Westmeath since its discovery in 2005 in view of new structures identified in 2017 by contracted archaeologists (details supplied). [27056/18]
View answerI refer the Deputy to my reply to Questions Nos. 660 and 661 on 28 March 2018 in which I set out my Department’s significant input and involvement in the safeguarding of the toghers, or ancient trackways discovered at Mayne.
I also referred in that response to the significant and long-term engagement my Department’s National Monuments Service has had with stakeholders, including the local authority and the landowners. In that context, the Department is meeting again with the landowners and their archaeologists this week to review the latest developments with regard to the site.
I am satisfied that the various measures that have and are being taken represent the best approach to securing an optimal outcome for the protection of the archaeology in this case.
