MIME-Version: 1.0 Dear Minister Cullen,
There seems to me to be a major conflict
between some of the things you are proposing in the National
Monument (Amendment) Bill 2004, and the principles set out in
the Aarhus Convention Agreement which Ireland signed on
June 25th 1998 (as can be seen at the following United Nations
Internet page address:
http://www.unece.org/env/pp/ctreaty.htm ).
Though extremely few people in Ireland seem
to know anything whatsoever about the Aarhus Convention Agreement (at
the present time), it appears to me that they should know - on account
of the requirement in our Constitution (Republic of Ireland) which
states: "Every international agreement to which the State
becomes a party shall be laid before Dail Eireann" (Article 29,
Section 5, Point 1).
In so far as I can establish, and please
correct me if I am wrong, the Aarhus Convention Agreement has never been
laid before Dail Eireann (the Republic of Ireland
Parliament)?
For those who are unfamiliar with the subject, the following page
address contains some of the very basic information on the Aarhus
Convention Agreement:
http://www.finnachta.com/TheAarhusConvention.htm
Please note that the page
address immediately above also contains links to several
European Union and United Nations web site
addresses which provide in-depth information on the Aarhus Convention
Agreement. Under the heading "Member States", for
example, a small part of the European Union web site information I refer
to clearly states: " In particular, two directives concerning
access to environmental information and public participation in
environmental decision-making (“first” and “second pillar” of the Århus
Convention) have been adopted by the European Parliament and the Council
earlier in 2003. They have to be implemented in national law by 2005."
(For the full context of this quote please go to Internet page address:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/aarhus/ )
I look forward to hearing from you regarding
the question relating to the Dail Eireann matter which I have raised in
paragraph 3 above.
Finally, I would like to take this
opportunity to point out to all concerned that I run some Internet web
sites which contain information on a number of ancient heritage sites
here in Ireland, and that for some time now I have been receiving
e-mails from people living overseas who are growing more and more
concerned (and angry) regarding the way so many very important ancient
heritage sites here in the Republic of Ireland are being completely
destroyed - the most recent just a few days ago in County Kerry
apparently. To see an example of one such e-mail letter, which
I received just a few days ago, please go to the following Internet
address:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/taraskreen/message/1068
Yours sincerely,
Mr William Finnerty.
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