Vincent Salafia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Vincent Salafia is a noted Irish-born lawyer and environmentalist. Salafia was involved in a legal challenge against Mr.Dick Roche

Dick Roche

Dick Roche is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála for the Wicklow constituency, and also served in Seanad Éireann from 1992 to 1997.-Early and private life:...

, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government over the M3 Motorway at Tara in 2006.

Brehon Law Project

In 2000 he founded the Brehon Law Project, to promote academic study into early Irish law or 'Brehon Law'. He held three symposia in Blackhall Place, King's Inns

King's Inns

The Honorable Society of King's Inns , is the institution which controls the entry of barristers-at-law into the justice system of Ireland...

and Trinity College Dublin.

Carrickmines Castle

In 2002 Mr. Salafia became a spokesperson for a group called Carrickminders, which engaged in a campaign to preserve the remains of Carrickmines Castle

Carrickmines Castle

Carrickmines Castle is an archaeological site in Carrickmines, County Dublin, in eastern Ireland. The castle was built in the medieval period to protect the English-ruled Pale around Dublin...

, an Anglo-Norman fort built in the 12th Century on the edge of the Pale

The Pale

The Pale or the English Pale , was the part of Ireland that was directly under the control of the English government in the late Middle Ages. It had reduced by the late 15th century to an area along the east coast stretching from Dalkey, south of Dublin, to the garrison town of Dundalk...

. An occupation lasting 6 months led to the declaration that Carrickmines Castle was a National Monument

National Monument (Ireland)

The Irish state has officially approved the following List of National Monuments of Ireland. In the Republic of Ireland, a structure or site may be deemed to be a "National Monument", and therefore worthy of state protection, if it is of national importance...

and granting of a Supreme Court injunction that postponed the completion of the M50 motorway

M50 motorway (Ireland)

The M50 motorway is a motorway in Ireland running in a C-shaped ring around the north-eastern, northern, western and southern sides of the capital city, Dublin. The northern end of the route is located at the entrance to the Dublin Port Tunnel. Anti-clockwise it heads northwest through the tunnel...

for two years. The Government refused to reroute the motorway and facilitated its construction by passing the National Monuments (Amendment) Act 2004.

Hill of Tara / M3 motorway

Salafia undertook judicial review

Judicial review

Judicial review is the doctrine under which legislative and executive actions are subject to review by the judiciary. Specific courts with judicial review power must annul the acts of the state when it finds them incompatible with a higher authority...

of the decision of the Minister to give directions, under the National Monuments Act 2004, to proceed with excavations of 38 sites between Navan

Navan

-People:Navan was the childhood home of Pierce Brosnan, who appeared in the television series Remington Steele and was the fifth film actor to play James Bond. TV personality Hector Ó hEochagáin, and comedians Dylan Moran and Tommy Tiernan also hail from Navan....

and Dunshaughlin

Dunshaughlin

-History:It is named after Saint Seachnall, who established a church there in the 5th century.Máel Seachlainn was ancestor to the principal family of Brega, Ó Maoilsheachlainn, is descended...

along the pathway of the M3 motorway. On March 1, 2006, Mr Justice Thomas Smyth ruled against Mr Salafia in the High Court. Salafia faced a legal bill of €600,000.

The National Roads Authority have claimed that his objections have cost the taxpayers of Ireland millions of euros, with the delays costing €1 million per week http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2006/0515/1768001737HMM3.html. He has also been accused by the National Roads Authority of "endangering the public" because the new motorway will separate traffic and save lives.http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1785481,00.html Salafia has denied these claims both in court and in the media.

External links

Brehon Law Project

Carrickmines Castle - M50 motorway

Hill of Tara - M3 motorway

Media Reports

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