Vandals attack 5,000-year-old standing stone on the world famous Hill of Tara

Eamonn, I appreciate your courteous and civil style of participation. You set a commendable example for desirable decorum in a forum like this. May we all be nudged toward your gentlemanly tone.

bunkerhill.Hope you're husband gets well soon.I wouldn't take much notice of Bythebay.She is quite happy to jump to conclusions that it was Americans who damage these ancient sites.I guess her reasoning comes from the fact the chipped pieces were taken away.Been a native of Ireland I very much doubt native born vandals would have been bothered to take the chips of stone away with them.This would lead me to believe it MIGHT be a tourist who wanted a souvenir to take home.But that would be just a theory and just an opinion.It's not even an educated guess.We just don't know who did it.By the way chances are your post was not censored.It was probably too long.IC ask for peoples opinion but don't want too much of it.;))

I did make a sympathic comment on behalf of my husband Bunkerhill who is not well but it was censured as I am sure this one will be. I can see that the Irish of today are a completely different breed from the wonderful people we knew. I am so sympathic to all the decent, well educated Irish as this site is for the "stage Irish" the Irish who would get up on vaudeville stages and portray themselves as drunks for a great deal of money. This group continuously denigrated the Irish but their power is over except on this site. So no censure this post.

Actually I am Bunkerhill's wife as he is not too well. I did not have the time to read all the comments and really don't understand who would do something like this and why. Ireland is an ancient country on the edge of the known world for so many centuries and yet a center even in the dark ages for learning and beautifully illustrated books. Ireland's prehistoric past is just now coming to the fore with the sites of 1,375 castles having recently been published. I know the list is legitmate because of a now destroyed castle, little known castle being published. Only a great deal of research could have revealed the information provided in this list. My question is, and I didn't have the time to read all the comments, why are Americans implicated. I don't know any group who loves Ireland more than Americans. I do have Irish cousins who were extremely upset about the highway going through prehistoric sites and the seeming unconcern of other Irish. Ireland is on the verge of reclaiming it's lost prehistoric history and maybe there are others who would want to deny them their legacy. When I get time I will look through all the comments to find out what led to the theory that it was Americans who vandalized these ancient sites. For myself, it doesn't make any sense.

angrypaddy.You're a simpleton.While United States exports to the rest of the world have grown 55 percent over the past decade.American exports to China have jumped 468 percent.President Obama announced a new initiative that aims to double American exports by 2014.A major focus of that effort is China, now the world’s second-largest importer behind the United States.You think it's that's simple.Get back into your trailer and cut out some coupons.

CCTV cameras will have to be put up at sites such as this to catch the US tourists who pillaged it. Their disrespectof heritage sites knows no bounds. This is why so many tourist attactions are more closely policed, why many artifacts are no longer shown to US toursts. Their tourist dollars in no way compensate the country's taxpayers for the havoc they wreck.

angrypaddy, those of you in the US will be facing dire consequences when you default on July 1 when your Congress and President can't agree a solution to your $15 trillion debt, the most debted country in the world. Turn your attention then to your problems and stop using Ireland as a smokescreen for the ineptitude of those of you in the US who are too stupid to even realize the horrendous situation you're in. You are the pawns of the Chinese who own your debt.

Morons, pure and simple. They need to be found and put to work cleaning and scrubbing the country's Heritage site's.

molliepmac---"Yes I understand now about ciaradexy." Does everyone here dislike ciaradexy? She probably gets off on that, she's a troll with too much time on her hands.

I was filled pride concerning our fans at the Euro cup. Now my heart is sad and disappointed.

angrypaddy; Yes I understand now about ciaradexy. In an earlier post she condemds tourists at Newgrange and the Cliffs and now she claims she is a tourguide. If you are right we taxpayers are subsidising her via IMF, UK Treasury etc. ciaradexy, I see from your posts on other topics that you switch from pro American to anti – does it depend on what mood you are in. I wonder where you are a tourguide? Not in Meath. When were you last at Tara? Which part of the Campaign to re route the M3 were you a part of? The FACT is the motorway is visible from parts of the Hill. Using CAPITAL letters to say it is NOT does not alter the facts. It is also a FACT that the Hill is the centre of a massive complex now cut in two by the motorway - 40 archaelogical sites destroyed. Anyone who wishes to find out more will find plenty of info on the Net.

US tourists are well known in Ireland for their disrespect of Ireland's heritage. From taking church records to souvenirs of standing stones and other violations of our country, they know no bounds. It's part of the US demeanor, a country that wages unjust wars, lies to the UN and conduct incusions into countries which violate those countries rights, they of course have no hesitation or respect for any country or any country's heritage.

Taraskryne, Pay no attention to CIRA:she is unemployed single mother of two sits at home in her subsidized house google's everything and pretends she is involved in everything She is a prime example of a delusional Celtic Tiger Cub who does not take her med's

Angrypaddy, tho Eastern Europeans dont need citizenship as they can move around Europe freely. Why do you call migrants to Ireland 'excreta'? DO you class all those Yanks who are related to irish migrants who left here as 'excreta'? Theyre exactly the same.

Mollie, as someone who protested against the bulding of the motorway and now as a tourguide, the motorway IS NOT visible from the hill and it ended up not even a 10th as bad as we thought it was going to be but the residents who wanted the motorway to allow them to commute to and from work easier won out in the end.