Amidst the heavy clouds and pouring rain on Thursday, the longest day of the year, the sun suddenly made a brief but dazzling appearance at sunrise.

"It came out for just 40 seconds or so before it went back behind the clouds, " said Maggie Jay, who travelled from London to attend the four-day festival at the heritage site. "But it was a lovely moment, a bit like an omen."

At Tara, protesters need every bit of good luck they can find. Since it emerged that outgoing environment minister Dick Roche signed an order for the M3 motorway to proceed as planned through the site and that new minister John Gormley can apparently do nothing to prevent it, the mood on the site has been one of disillusionment.

"When we heard the news, it was actually like a punch in the stomach, " said Laura Grealish of the Tarawatch campaign.

"We couldn't believe it, especially because we were so hopeful when the Greens went into government. They sold us out."

For two full days, there was a sense of hopelessness among protesters, she added.

"But now we're restarting the campaign, stronger than ever. It looks like it's going to end up in court, but we're here for the long haul."

The four-day festival, timed to celebrate the summer solstice as well as the decision of the World Monuments Fund to place Tara on its list of the world's 100 most endangered sites, is just part of this campaign. Bands and poets are performing over the weekend and revellers have come from all around the world to take part.

"I think it's an absolute shame what is going on here, " said Nicky Kenning from Devon.

"It's hard to believe that a great big motorway could be going through all this soon. The government must be mad."

Even the torrential rain has failed to dampen people's spirits. Revellers are gathered all around the hill, some with their bare feet wallowing in the mud, others dressed in more practical mackintoshes. In every group, a similar conversation is taking place . . . how beautiful Tara is and how terrible it will be if the M3 goes ahead.

From a large teepee in the woods comes the rhythmic sound of a bodhran being played. Inside, Niamh Ni Dhionsaigh from Cork is guarding the Tara fire.

"This fire has been burning for a year and a day and the flame has never gone out, " she explained. "At one stage, we had to move it because it was damaging some of the ground, but it was taken up and moved here and it has never extinguished."

Up to five people camp by the fire at one time. The material of the teepee was donated by the Rossport protesters.

"Someone always stays awake to make sure it never goes out. It kind of guards us, " said Ni Dhionsaigh, who arrived for three days a year ago and stayed for nine weeks. "They can't move us."

The rain pouring down is good news for many protesters . . . it means work on the M3 has had to be halted until the weather improves. For the musicians playing on the hill however, it is less heartening.

Jon Griffin and Becca Tann from Brighton, who make up Twenty-One Crows, have had to pack their instruments away temporarily because of the high wind.

"What's going on here is a disgrace, " said Griffin. "We're so glad we were able to come over and lend our support."

On Monday, the festival-goers will descend on Dublin to protest outside the department of the environment.

"We think John Gormley can over-ride Roche's orders, " said Grealish. "We're going down to remind him that we're not going anywhere."