Garda probe after mast levelled

MALICIOUS damage to a controversial mobile phone mast was yesterday described as an act of mindless vandalism.

daí are investigating damage, estimated at €150,000, to the 25-metre mast which recently went up at Lahard, Beaufort, Co Kerry. It was found levelled to the ground yesterday in what was claimed to be the first case of deliberate damage to a mast in the south of Ireland. The incident occurred between 9pm, on Monday and 10am yesterday.

There were protests at the site of the mast on May 2 last by people claiming it created health risks. Signs with slogans such as ‘no mast’ have been put up around the area. The mast was erected by the Kiolpa company which had agreed to rent its transmission facilities to the Vodafone and O2 mobile phone companies. According to John Maher, of Kiolpa, the bolts that fastened what he described as a monopole to a concrete base were removed. The wind then felled it to the ground and it landed on top of a cabin, which contained valuable Vodafone equipment, and a surrounding fence.