'Move the Mast' protest in Cloughjordan

The community of Cloughjordan will rally behind the Cloughjordan Move the Mast Action Group on Friday, May 2, at 5pm outside St Michael’s National School, Cloughjordan.

The rally is a show of defiance against the 15-metre-tall 5G mast planned adjacent to the national school and surrounded by homes, businesses, and a creche. An Bord Pleanála has approved the mast despite unified opposition from the villagers and local politicians.

In response, St Michael’s NS Board of Management are working with FP Logue Solicitors in Dublin to request a judicial review of the case and An Bord Pleanála’s controversial decision.

Parents and locals are shocked that their local council representatives would approve Eir’s mast in the first place. Tipperary’s County Development Plan specifically states that it will not place masts near schools or homes unless as a last resort. The site next to the school is not a last resort – Eir has admitted in previous correspondence that they considered no other sites.

“I live behind the school, so this mast would essentially be built in my back garden,” said Noel Feighery, long-time Cloughjordan resident and Move the Mast Action Group member. “My grandchildren attend the school and I would live under this mast. It’s in completely the wrong place and should never have been approved.”

The Cloughjordan Move the Mast Action Group will hold their rally to draw local and media attention to what the group’s members call the inappropriate illegal placement of Eir’s mast. The group states that they’re not opposed to 5G technology or progress, but are unable to accept that a mast of this size should be placed within a quiet, residential setting.

With Cloughjordan behind them, they hope An Bord Pleanála and Eir will see that a 15-metre mast set among schools and homes is wrong. “We have a lovely little school here serving 129 local children, including a dynamic ASD unit,” said Viv Dooley, St Michael’s NS principal.

“This mast would utterly change everything we’ve built at this school. It’s so close, we’d have to close the main pathway children use to enter the school and our access to the play area to avoid contact with the mast.”

Move the Mast are asking anyone in the area - from Cloughjordan residents to friends and family members of children in the school - to attend the May 2 rally. “This is a David vs Goliath battle,” said Kelli Cleary, chairperson of the Action Group, “but we’re determined to rally, raise awareness, and make noise about this mast until Eir back down and find a better place for it. Cloughjordan is no company’s industrial site.”

www.movethemast.com