Plan to ensure roads to Newgrange are passable for winter solstice

Amid fears that the Arctic weather conditions forecast for next week could prevent visitors getting to Newgrange for the 'dawn watch' during the winter solstice, a plan was drawn up yesterday (Tuesday) to keep roads in the area passable. The OPW, Meath County Council and the Gardai met yesterday to put a plan in place to ensure the roads around the Brú na Boinne visitor centre and Newgrange itself are passable next week. It is now hoped that the 60 lottery winners and their guests, who won the opportunity to witness the Winter Solstice phenomenon at Newgrange, will be able to make the journey to the World Heritage Site monument to see the sunlight enter the chamber on the shortest day of the year. Bru na Boinne's manager, Claire Tuffy, said she was optimistic the roads will be cleared, but advised people to keep an eye on the OPW's website www.heritageireland.ie for information. The Bru na Boinne visitor centre was closed for two weeks because of the dangerous conditions of roads in the area and, while the centre opened last Monday, the national monument at Newgrange was closed to the public because of the treacherous condition of the road from the centre to the monument. The winners who were drawn from the 25,000 who applied for a place in the chamber during the dawn watches are due to visit the ancient burial chamber at dawn from Saturday until next Thursday. The visitors whose names were drawn by local schoolchildren in a draw last September include people from the US, Sweden, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland, as well as throughout Ireland. There will be a number of VIPs present on Tuesday next, the shortest day of the year, including Professor John Browne, Astronomer Royal for Scotland. Huge numbers of other visitors traditionally arrive at the monument each year to watch the sunrise from outside the chamber and they will be welcome to attend again this year, although they are advised to check the heritageireland.ie website for weather and road conditions. A spokesperson for Meath County Council said that a select number of local roads would be gritted to facilitate visitors to Newgrange. Cllr Wayne Harding has called on the council to grit the roads in the Donore area to facilitate the centre, but also to facilitate the people of Donore who had been isolated by terrible road conditions for over a fortnight.