Dear Madam, - On 5 May I visited Mountdrum Archaeological Site, Fermanagh. Go to Garvary crossroads, follow the road signs.

For the first time, out of dozens of visits, I met another visitor. She was returning to the bottle-strewn car park after viewing the unique triple concentric stone circle. First thing, she warned me that the turnstile gate that was supposed to give access to this landmark was broken, unhinged, and the gap was closed off with rampant gorse. But I knew that for years.

On 27 January 1991 I discovered a wedge tomb, two stone circles, multiple stone alignments, and later a burnt mound at Mountdrum. As a consequence of my earlier discoveries at Topped Mountain, the area between Topped Mountain and Mountdrum, containing monuments about 4,000 years old, was officially designated an Area of Significant Archaeological Interest, as reported in the media.

At Mountdrum an unworkable arrangement was cooked up. This involved (1) the Department of the Environment, (2) the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, (3) Fermanagh District Council, (4) the Heritage Lottery Fund, (5) Fermanagh Local Strategy Partnership, (6) the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, (7) the European Union Programme for Peace and Reconciliation, (8) a private company for signage, and (9) another private company for fences and gates. They came together, supposedly, to protect and promote my discoveries. What a shambles. The result was total chaos and failure.

The whole Mountdrum site was scheduled (especially protected under the law) by the DOE and was purchased by Fermanagh District Council. FDC was awarded £52,599 by the Heritage Lottery Fund on 23 October 1995 to help with the purchase. The monument was added to the latest Ordnance Survey maps. Lectern-style signs were erected beside some of the monuments.

But one third of the area of each sign trumpets the “involvement” of the mishmash of organisations above. Each sign is ridiculously emblazoned with their heraldic shields. Otherwise the written contents of these tacky and disorientated signs remain erroneous (see the definitive text books), and are further sullied with childish misspellings. The car park master map has an arrow showing north. It is 132 degrees incorrect on a compass. It shows the burnt mound. But in reality the burnt mound is senselessly fenced off with barbed wire by FDC. No gate. It shows the “new” wedge tomb. But this is now invisible, obliterated by antipersonnel gorse.

These flawed signs, the unsuitable barbed wire, the broken gate, and the gorse must go.

As for the gorse, you can see that owners of adjacent properties have mastered this problem.

I have been complaining about this for years.

Now this FDC property is a neglected, ramshackle, overgrown, fire-shattered mess. But if you ”wanna good time”, go to the Mountdrum car park at night with a lot of amorous friends and lots of booze. Throw the empty bottles on the hallowed ground before you go. The absentee ex-FDC will not clear up the mess, clear the gorse, fix the dangerous gate, or correct the erroneous signs, and never did. Now what is the new Council going to do?

The top archaeology at Mountdrum has been ruined by this sloppiness.

Could any of the nine entities above, who so spectacularly publicised themselves back then, comment in public about this dereliction now?

Yours faithfully, Fred Carroll Irvinestown Road Enniskillen Dear Madam, - On 5 May I visited Mountdrum Archaeological Site, Fermanagh. Go to Garvary crossroads, follow the road signs.

For the first time, out of dozens of visits, I met another visitor. She was returning to the bottle-strewn car park after viewing the unique triple concentric stone circle. First thing, she warned me that the turnstile gate that was supposed to give access to this landmark was broken, unhinged, and the gap was closed off with rampant gorse. But I knew that for years.

On 27 January 1991 I discovered a wedge tomb, two stone circles, multiple stone alignments, and later a burnt mound at Mountdrum. As a consequence of my earlier discoveries at Topped Mountain, the area between Topped Mountain and Mountdrum, containing monuments about 4,000 years old, was officially designated an Area of Significant Archaeological Interest, as reported in the media.

At Mountdrum an unworkable arrangement was cooked up. This involved (1) the Department of the Environment, (2) the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, (3) Fermanagh District Council, (4) the Heritage Lottery Fund, (5) Fermanagh Local Strategy Partnership, (6) the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, (7) the European Union Programme for Peace and Reconciliation, (8) a private company for signage, and (9) another private company for fences and gates. They came together, supposedly, to protect and promote my discoveries. What a shambles. The result was total chaos and failure.

The whole Mountdrum site was scheduled (especially protected under the law) by the DOE and was purchased by Fermanagh District Council. FDC was awarded £52,599 by the Heritage Lottery Fund on 23 October 1995 to help with the purchase. The monument was added to the latest Ordnance Survey maps. Lectern-style signs were erected beside some of the monuments.

But one third of the area of each sign trumpets the “involvement” of the mishmash of organisations above. Each sign is ridiculously emblazoned with their heraldic shields. Otherwise the written contents of these tacky and disorientated signs remain erroneous (see the definitive text books), and are further sullied with childish misspellings. The car park master map has an arrow showing north. It is 132 degrees incorrect on a compass. It shows the burnt mound. But in reality the burnt mound is senselessly fenced off with barbed wire by FDC. No gate. It shows the “new” wedge tomb. But this is now invisible, obliterated by antipersonnel gorse.

These flawed signs, the unsuitable barbed wire, the broken gate, and the gorse must go.

As for the gorse, you can see that owners of adjacent properties have mastered this problem.

I have been complaining about this for years.

Now this FDC property is a neglected, ramshackle, overgrown, fire-shattered mess. But if you ”wanna good time”, go to the Mountdrum car park at night with a lot of amorous friends and lots of booze. Throw the empty bottles on the hallowed ground before you go. The absentee ex-FDC will not clear up the mess, clear the gorse, fix the dangerous gate, or correct the erroneous signs, and never did. Now what is the new Council going to do?

The top archaeology at Mountdrum has been ruined by this sloppiness.

Could any of the nine entities above, who so spectacularly publicised themselves back then, comment in public about this dereliction now?

Yours faithfully, Fred Carroll Irvinestown Road Enniskillen