Radio broadcasts of Mass interfere with flights

CHURCHES broadcasting Mass on the radio to housebound worshippers have unexpectedly found a new audience — pilots flying transatlantic planes at 30,000ft.

Now churches across the country have had to cease their daily FM broadcasts following fears over interference with air traffic control communications.

But the ban has come under fire from priests as well as parishioners, who said the religious broadcasts were a lifeline for the housebound.

Father Brendan Quinlan used to broadcast Mass on the 106.5FM frequency from the Mother of Divine Grace Church in Finglas, Dublin, to listeners at three nearby nursing homes.

He told RTÉ’s Liveline show yesterday: “These broadcasts were greatly appreciated, especially by the housebound.

“It was a lifeline — they kept in touch with what’s happening but we had no idea it was causing any interference.”

The ban was brought in by communications regulator ComReg after an investigation by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) into interference being suffered by pilots.

IAA spokeswoman Lilian Cassin said: “Our engineers on the ground could not find anything but pilots in the air were reporting interference.

“It occurred to one of our engineers that the problem was caused by broadcasts of Masses because of the times that the interference was being reported.”

Pilots flying between Europe and North America reported the interference to air traffic control transmissions while flying over Ireland at high altitude.