Kerry village residents to protest over construction of 'highly obtrusive' 15m mast

Knocknagoshel residents are opposed to the location of the telecommunications mast, which is close to the school, houses, and other amenities

More than 25 Knocknagoshel residents are due to travel to Dublin in convoy on Tuesday, calling first at Eir’s offices in Citywest and at Heuston Station, before protesting outside the offices of An Bord Pleanála in the north inner city. File picture: Don MacMonagle

Residents of a rural Kerry village have questioned “the obsession” with building a 15m high telecommunications mast in the middle of their village.

Michelle Keane, a native of Knocknagoshel and organiser of a planned protest at the offices of An Bord Pleanála in Dublin against the construction of the proposed mast, has called for the head of the planning board and the chief executive of mobile operator Eir to meet with residents to discuss "concerns for our community in rural Ireland".

Applications to construct the mast at the former Eir exchange in the heart of Knocknagoshel have been refused on three occasions over the past four years by the local authority.

Residents are opposed to the location of the mast, which is close to the school, houses, and other amenities, and which planners in Kerry have said is a "highly obtrusive" to the local landscape.

Last month Eir, and its agent for the construction TowerCom, appealed the latest refusal by Kerry County Council to An Bord Pleanála.

“I just feel so strongly about it,” Ms Keane told the Irish Examiner. “We’ve been so accommodating in offering them alternative locations, we just don’t want it in our village.

“My question is, what’s the obsession? This is a multimillion-euro company, what’s the obsession with wanting to put this mast in the village,” she said.

More than 25 Knocknagoshel residents are due to travel to Dublin in convoy on Tuesday, calling first at Eir’s offices in Citywest and at Heuston Station, before protesting outside the offices of An Bord Pleanála in the north inner city.

Asked for comment, an Eir spokesperson said the mast “is not an Eir development” adding agents TowerCom have been “engaging with local residents”.

Asked why Eir's name is listed as the appellant in the application to An Bord Pleanála, they replied that “TowerCom lease Eir property for the establishment of their mobile masts from time to time, so they would have support from Eir in terms of the location, but they have to work through the usual planning applications in order to put in place a new mast”.

A spokesperson for TowerCom said the new mast would "improve service for business and home users and respond to rapidly expanding need for these services”.

They said the proposed mast was “similar to hundreds of these structures being developed countrywide”.

Mobile-signal boosting masts of the kind applied for in Knocknagoshel have become a common sight around Ireland over the past decade as mobile internet speeds have increased exponentially.

Last year, the Irish Examiner reported that the former deputy chair of An Bord Pleanála Paul Hyde had voted to override his own planning inspectors in the vast majority of applications for telecommunications masts over the previous two years.

Mr Hyde resigned last July. He is currently facing criminal charges following an investigation of his activities as deputy chair carried out last year.