Metal detecting damages 3,000-year-old wooden road

Damaging the archaeological record

Illegal metal detecting has caused irreparable damage to a prehistoric road in central Ireland with the country\s leading heritage charity calling on the Government to intervene to save the road (Ryan Nugent, ' Illegal metal detectors damage 3,000-year-old wooden road ,Irish Independent 2 June 2017).

An Taisce: The National Trust for Ireland [...]  has criticised the Minister for "standing idly by" and wants a licensed metal detector survey carried out along the route. Dr Mark Clinton of An Taisce said that the area is of international importance and [...]  "These pits would have been dug by illegal metal-detector operators - 45 'hits' could have equated with 45 ancient objects of antiquity," Dr Clinton said. "How much longer is the Minister going to stand idly by while this monument of International importance is destroyed?"