Navan Fort (Hansard, 12 May 1986)

§ Mr. Seamus Mallon (Newry and Armagh)

I welcome the opportunity to refer once again to what I regard as a very important matter, to which I referred in my maiden speech. I shall try to put it into context by referring to something that is entirely English and not Irish at all. There are two stories, one of which goes back into medieval English romance and the other into pre-Christian romance, in Irish literary terms, that appeal to me. They may also appeal, in an impish way, to the Minister to whom I address these remarks.

The first is the story of Gawain in English romantic literature. The story of Gawain and the Green Knight may appeal to me because the knight happened to be green. This knight threatened the knights of the Round Table that if they did not do certain things he would use the gigantic sword that he wielded.

It is also significant that in Irish folklore and Irish romantic literature there is the precedent, about 800 years before that, of Bricriu who wielded a sword and threatened the knights of the Red Branch. There may be some significance in the fact that the right hon. Member for South Down (Mr. Powell) lives at Lough Bricrhland, which is called after Briciu. The most literal translation is "poison-tongue". I cast no aspersions whatsoever. However, if one combines the Green Knight and Bricriu one sees the relationship between Camelot in British legend and the Emain Macha in Irish legend. There is a substantial difference. Nobody has yet established where Camelot is. Nobody has been able to point to a site and say, "There is Camelot". However, we know that Emain Macha and Navan Fort was the seat of Irish kings. Ptolemy's atlas as far back as the second century after Christ charts it as the seat of kings. For that reason it is a matter of great concern to the people of Northern Ireland.

There has been a long public inquiry into the application for permission to quarry adjacent to and on the site of Emain Macha. I shall not deal with its merits or demerits. It was the subject of the longest public inquiry in the history of Northern Ireland. The Minister will have to make a very difficult decision and I sympathise with him. I ask him to bear in mind the evidence that was produced at the public inquiry and to realise that a decision is urgent.

I raised the matter again in a parliamentary question on 28 April. In his reply the Minister said that, having considered the report, he would report to us as quickly as possible. I hope that the Minister does not think that I am being churlish when I say to him that I find his definition of speed rather difficult to understand. This matter is of interest not only to the people of Northern Ireland but to those living elsewhere. Its interest lies beyond the confines of Northern Ireland and, indeed, the whole island of Ireland. We wonder why this matter is being treated in so dilatory a fashion, why a decision cannot be made and why, after so many weeks, the Minister has not got round to providing a definite answer to this very serious problem.

Reluctantly, I have to say that those of us who sat through the public inquiry, who gave evidence to it and who feel strongly and deeply about this issue, are becoming impatient at the way in which the Minister's 537 Department is failing to come to grips with the problem. I ask him point blank tonight, now that I have the opportunity, when he will make his decision. Will it be long-fingered for another month, two months or for a matter of weeks? He must realise that, apart from the issue at stake—the planning controversy—other factors pertain—;

It being Ten o'clock, the motion for the Adjournment of the House lapsed, without Question put.

Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Maude.]

There are other issues which pertain, not least the potential development of this historic site in cultural and educational terms and, not least, in archaeological terms. That type of forward planning cannot proceed or be developed beyond the embryo stage until the long-term position is clearly understood, not just in relation to Navan Fort but to the whole complex of Emain Macha. I must stress that that is not just confined to the fort itself but to the whole historic complex known as Emain Macha. In practical terms that is the Irish equivalent to Camelot, except that it exists.

I think that Cicero once said that not to be aware of the past is to remain for ever a child. I am pleased that there has been such an interest in international and national terms in the future of this complex. I am pleased that people are aware of such a positive influence in their heritage and in their folk memory and in the whole literary landscape to which it has contributed in relation to the works of James Millington Synge and William Butler Yeats, just as Camelot was the basis of so much of Lord Tennyson's great poetry.

I know that the Minister has a difficult decision to make. I trust that he will make the right one. I hope for the sake of all of us and for future generations living in Ireland that he will. I ask him to make his decision quickly and, please, put us all out of our misery, because there is a lot of forward thinking to do. A lot of planning must go into what is or is not to develop on the site and it cannot be done until he gives us a clear idea of what his decision will be. I take this opportunity of asking him to tell us clearly tonight when the decision will be made.

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Richard Needham)

As the nineteenth Viscount Newry, the sixth Earl of Kihnorey and the hereditary abbot of Newry and Mourne. I am an upstart and a newcomer compared with the knights of Ulster and Cuchullain. I am fully aware of and understand the obligations that are placed upon me.

I regret that I shall never have the opportunity of becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer, so I shall not understand what that purdah may be, but, in terms of my role as Minister with responsibility for the environment in Northern Ireland, I understand my role in purdah in relation to Navan Fort.

I congratulate the hon. Member for Newry and Annagh (Mr. Mallon) on showing brevity and circumspection in his contribution this evening, because, as he pointed out, the matter has been debated at a public inquiry which lasted for 22 days—one of the longest that has taken place in Northern Ireland. I believe that the points on both sides were fully debated.

As the hon. Gentleman knows, the report of the planning appeals commission is with the Department. I understand the hon. Gentleman's major concern about the timing of our decision, but he will appreciate that when an application has been the subject of an inquiry, important procedural rules require that the Department should not take into account any representations made afterwards without giving all those involved in the inquiry an opportunity to see and comment on the representations.

The hon. Gentleman will appreciate that it is important for us to come to our own decision on this immensely important issue. I am satisfied that all the relevant points that came up in the important public inquiry halve been thoroughly debated and that the planning appeals commission dealt with them fully in its report to the Department.

I understand the hon. Gentleman's anxiety, but I ask him to wait just a little while longer. I trust that the Department's decision will be made by the end of May.