The road building authority last week announced the launch of a new annual magazine detailing archaeological finds made during road construction programmes. However, experts in the field have accused the authority of a misleading attempt to promote itself as an archaeological body.

"We are talking about a body that is attempting to put a motorway through our national monument [the Hill of Tara], so you would have to question the independence of any archaeological publication, " said Joe Fenwick of NUI Galway. "All their previous publications have been nothing but spin to try to convince the public that our archaeology is in safe hands."

Fenwick, who was previously involved in the government's Discovery programme research into Tara, said the NRA had last year issued brochures to households in Meath explaining their plans for the Tara valley. These brochures were "an attempt to distort the reality of what is happening in Tara", he said.

Transport minister Martin Cullen last week launched Seanda, the new NRA magazine which will be produced annually and distributed to schools.

A spokesman for the NRA rejected claims that the magazine would lack independence, saying the publication will merely list all items found on digs at road sites.

"The magazine will be written by highlyqualified experts and it is wrong to question their integrity, " said the spokesman. "By detailing archaeological finds, the magazine will merely be stating fact."