THE expert heading the conservation project at Monasterboice, Margaret Gowen, has admitted that she learned a lot about the area from the recent public meeting held at the Naomh Mairtin club.

'Certainly the traffic situation presents a far greater impact than I had imagined,' she told the Drogheda Independent.

'Holding these type of meetings allows you to hear these things and we can learn from that in terms of what to do at the location.'

She revealed that a number of people have been brought into the team, all intend to doing their best to protect the ancient crosses for future generations.

' The site cannot be promoted for tourism on a great scale at the moment, that's one thing we know.

'It just can't cope with big numbers,' she added.

'We are at the first step in relation to Monasterboice and have to plan what happens, now, in the short term and then the long term.

'The local people have to be involved and we don't want to see the character, beauty and peacefulness of the location destroyed'.