Protesters picket County Hall as Meteor defies council over phone mast

MORE than 50 people who held a protest outside County Hall yesterday
heard that Cork County Council is to take a mobile phone company to court to
force it to remove a controversial mast.
Carrying placards which asked the local authority to protect its people, the
protesters said they were deeply concerned about the continuing operation of
the Meteor mobile phone mast at New Square, in Mitchelstown.
While health concerns were their major priority, the protesters added that
many of them had been unable to receive RTÉ TV signals since the mast
became operational at the end of last January.
The mast is placed on Mrs Quinn’s charity shop.
Sheila Corbett, a mother of three young girls, is fearful for her children’s
health. One of her girls held a placard stating she couldn’t see Dora or Barney
because of Meteor.
“My grandmother lives in the area. She’s terribly worried about her health and
has no TV reception,” Diarmuid Mullins said.
Deputy Ned O’Keeffe, who attended the protest, said: “I’m here objecting to
this mast on health and safety grounds.”
Standing orders were suspended to discuss the issue.
Cllrs Kevin O’Keeffe and Frank O’Flynn explained that, on June 5, officials
decided the mast needed planning permission and Cork County Council
issued an enforcement order.
Meteor has applied for retention, but, it was stated yesterday that this
application isn’t valid.
Cllr Liam O’Doherty said: “They [Meteor] could take this to An Bord Pleanála
and that could take 12 to 15 months. The least residents can expect it to have
the mast turned off.”ഊCounty manager Martin Riordan said officials were preparing to take Meteor
to court because the company hadn’t complied with the enforcement order
issued in Mitchelstown.

Sean O’Riordan
© Irish Examiner