Quote:Considering the inordinate public cost incurred by the DOE-licensed archaeologists on the Enniskillen crannog on the DRD's new highway, this being stopped in its tracks by these people, readers might risk to spin a penny as a bet. See if it comes down heads or tails. Here are the two opposite faces of the coin.
Heads. An item from the BBC News, 30 July 2012, sourced from the DRD's Road Service. "The Roads Service said it was not aware of the existence of the crannog before construction work began."
Tails. An item from the Fermanagh Herald newspaper, 4 December 2012. "Environment Minister Alex Attwood has clarified that he and the Roads Service were aware that the site existed before construction began."
Could Mr. Attwood for the DOE, and could also the DRD, explain to us how they think either one of these two opposing statements could possibly enhance their reputations?
This long recorded crannog (for 177 years) had already been 50 to 60% destroyed by the road works before any archaeological intervention suddenly appeared, as though the presence of this crannog had been a surprise breakthrough. Too many uninformed people, who haven't bothered to read the books, have wrongly claimed this as an "unexpected discovery" in the media, as stated in the BBC News item, above. The sources must publically correct this inaccuracy which is misleading the public to the tune of an uncool £2m, not to be recouped by few courtesy open days.
The crannog destruction occurred despite the fact that the DRD had employed a DOE-licensed archaeologist who was contracted to prevent this sort of fiasco, but failed to locate this well known crannog.
Astonishingly, this same archaeologist was then contracted to direct the dig. These facts are established by Freedom of Information Act responses to me from the DOE.