National Monuments
Dail Éireann — 2026-10-01
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Ruairí Ó Murchú (SF), Louth

I am not taking away from the work that has been carried out from an archaeological due diligence point of view. A number of people are worried about this. I have already made the argument that there has been a failure to look after Cú Chulainn’s Castle in general. Work needs to be done in that regard, whatever the outworkings of this case.
I understand that the zone of 5.2 ha is slightly greater now following the changes Louth County Council introduced, but people are still worried. They talk of both the area and the views that will be impacted. I have also heard a number of people say that they do not want to see houses go by in the midst of a housing crisis. Will the Minister promise that his Department will look at aspects of this development, such as the 50 m buffer, to determine whether they are sufficient? Many say that buffer needs to be extended.
I accept there is an issue with the building of houses. There will be people who will be utterly opposed to building houses that impact them personally, but that is not where I or many of the people who have contacted me are coming from. It is about protecting the structure, doing what we can and ensuring that all the necessary sight lines are maintained.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-10-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:01:00+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-10-01