The M50 motorway, originally built to bypass Dublin, is a case in point. Far from easing traffic woes in the capital, it has added to them. In this context, doesn't basing our transport system on private transport seem dated?

Many economists argue that global oil production will peak in the near future. From then on, petrol will be prohibitively expensive, possibly serving to thwart car ownership forecasts forming the basis of the National Roads Authority's expansionist philosophy. Should we not be investing in public transport instead?

Recent surveys show foreign visitors are most dissatisfied with the state of Irish roads and the length of time it takes to get from A to B. There is a strong case to improving the quality of our existing thoroughfares to make visits more practical and enjoyable. But tourists don't come here to see the roads. They come to see scenery that is too often blighted by road construction and traffic cones.

The perceived unspoilt nature of our landscape is one of Ireland's great selling points. Tourism is our major service industry and we should do our utmost to ensure it survives in exponentially competitive times. There is a balance between bumpy potholed botharíns and roads to nowhere.

Tara should be the watershed. By enhancing it in a non-intrusive way, it should shift policy towards maintaining that which we at home may undervalue, but which has considerable value abroad. The Hill lent its name to the heroine of that Holywood epic – Gone With the Wind. For posterity's sake, let us hope one of our most precious heritage sites does not suffer that titular fate.

Read our brass tacks on County Meath.