Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Minister of State very much. I am very conscious he is familiar with the mountain ranges of Ireland and that he is keen to protect our national heritage. He will see from the photograph that what happened required the movement of quite a substantial amount of the walls of the passage grave. He will see the entranceway to the grave. I am interested to learn it was rebuilt in the 1950s. Perhaps we can reinstate it to some degree of authenticity. The Minister of State mentioned there are loose stones. These cairns all comprise loose stones. The report I received recently that the cairn at Fairy Castle has been interfered with is particularly worrying, as there may be an attempt to interfere with these national monuments throughout the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains. In particular, Seefin, which is a phenomenal passage grave, should not suffer any further damage.

Will the Minister of State address the question of the responsible use of motorbikes and scramblers and the desecration of these very important sites? The Wicklow Way is a phenomenal development and attracts tourists from all over the world. The mountains are becoming more and more open to people who walk them and enjoy the scenery, vistas and knowledge that they are standing close by burial grounds which are perhaps 5,000 or 6,000 years old. This must be treated in the most serious way and these sites must be protected not only for this generation of Irish people, but generations to come. We owe these passage graves and cairns absolute respect as something we have inherited from as far back as 5,000 or 6,000 years ago.

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