Achill Island native, Joe McNamara, known as “The Anglo Avenger” has baffled locals in his latest endeavors by building a modern replica of Stonehenge, which has been dubbed “Achill-henge”.
Last year, McNamara gained profile in Ireland following his protests against the bail-out of Anglo Irish Bank. The developer drove a cement mixer, with the words “toxic bank” on the side, into the gates of Ireland’s parliamentary building, Leinster House. He also abandoned the same truck outside Anglo’s Galway offices and parked a cherry-picker outside the bank’s HQ in Dublin.
His latest stunt is not quite so self explanatory. The structure on Achill is set to cost over $1.3 million (€1 million) to build. It is 15 feet high and 30 meters in diameter. According to reports in the Mayo News, McNamara has been planning for this build above Pollagh for six months.
“Achill-henge” is believed to be a working replica of the prehistoric English monument. It has been built to sync with sunrise on the summer and winter solstices and March and September equinoxes. What will be at the centre of the ring is yet to be revealed. Currently just a semi-circle structure can be seen.
This weekend, McNamara and a large group of men worked long hours on the structure, with 30 trucks arriving to Pollagh with pre-cast concrete.
Mayo County Council has taken the matter to the High Court.
The purpose of the structure is still unknown. It is thought that the final addition at the center of the structure could be of a political nature, given McNamara’s past protests.
Some Mayo locals speculated that McNamara was building an incinerator.
Mayo County Council planning officers inspected the site on Friday and called for work to be stopped. McNamara refused and the case is now being brought before the High Court.
A council spokesman said “the matter is the subject of ongoing enforcement proceedings and will be back before the courts this week”.
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