GAA fans may be in for a shock, say ESB

THE ESB warned Gaelic football fans yesterday about the potentially fatal dangers of nailing their colours to the mast.

The electricity board is worried that football supporters in Kerry and Armagh are taking their lives in their hands when putting the county colours on ESB poles in the run-up to Sunday’s All-Ireland football final.

They also issued the same warning to groups thinking about putting up posters in the lead-up to the Nice treaty referendum.

“We not trying to dampen people’s enthusiasm before the big game, but a pole is not a safe place for member of the public to be putting up posters,” a spokesperson said.

It was reported that a man in Kerry was lucky to escape with his life when nailing colours on to an ESB mast last week. The nail almost came in contact with a live voltage line.

“People often get confused with telegraph poles and the ESB ones. For people’s own safety we would prefer if they didn’t apply things to our poles”.

The ESB said the only people qualified to climb the poles are their own transmission crews.

The supply line is always switched off when ESB workers carry out their maintenance work.