Uisneach Fire Festival

national | environment | opinion/analysis Tuesday April 13, 2010 08:43 by thegreenspirit - Private

Making Money from Heritage

The planned Festival of Fire on the Hill Of Uisneach, in West Meath on May eve cannot be welcomed or allowed pass with comment or protest.
This festival, once among the most ancient of all our festivals has grown from a renewed small gathering of spiritually minded people to a business venture now and one with scant regard for the ecology, heritage and environment of this ancient site.

The planned Festival of Fire on the Hill Of Uisneach, in West Meath on May eve cannot be welcomed or allowed pass with comment or protest.
This festival, once among the most ancient of all our festivals has grown from a renewed small gathering of spiritually minded people to a business venture now, and one with scant regard for the ecology, heritage and environment of this ancient site.
This year it is to have an admission fee, the first time in a long, long span of history that money has been demanded or charged charged there.
It is planned that thousands will attend and if previous years are to go by it will involve a drunken, litter leaving mob trampling the site in darkness.
Ancients monuments may be damaged, defiled or ruined. Nothing will be enhanced, secured or made better
I do not know if the hill is a national monument but I am sure that there are laws to protect such sites and to stop events and gatherings like this from happening?
This is simply a business man moving in on tradition, it corresponds to Fianna Fails new found interest in our heritage; as something to abuse and ignore but sell and make money from if and when possible.
All involved should be stopped and the ancient site left alone. That and that alone is the reason it has survived.

TheGreenSpirit