Luke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 314: To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the reason the excavated foundations of the Swan Gate, Athenry, County Galway, have not been either moved to a new location at which they can be displayed, covered over as they had been for centuries or covered with toughened glass in order that they are visible [i]in situ[/i]; and the reason the roundabout which, while being constructed, unearthed the foundations cannot be redesigned to accommodate the foundations where they are; if he will explain the process by which the foundations have been left exposed for more than five years; the reason no one is accountable for not taking a decision on the action to be taken; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37310/11]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

My Department received an application for consent, in Sept 2007, under Section 14 of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act, 2004, to preserve in situ part of the remains of the medieval town walls of Athenry (locally known as the Loro Gate). The application related to the construction of a new vehicular roundabout, above the remains, which the developer was required to construct as a condition of planning permission granted by Galway County Council for an adjacent housing development.

The application was approved by the then Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in October 2010. I understand that the possibility of relocating the proposed roundabout so as to avoid any unnecessary impact on the archaeological remains was examined by the Minister as part of the consent process but was not considered feasible, for traffic safety reasons, following consultation with the local authority and the Department of Transport. A condition was, however, included in the Minister's consent requiring an information plaque to be erected in the vicinity of the site.

However, since the consent issued I understand that Galway Co Council have subsequently given consideration to the construction of a smaller roundabout at the site. My Department is awaiting their proposals on the matter, including the implications for the national monument. It should be noted that my Department has no role in progressing the development for which planning permission was granted.