A Garda spokesman denied last night that the Garda Commissioner is threatening to close rural Garda stations if there are objections to the siting of telecommunications masts at the buildings. The dispute arose following complaints by Mrs Teresa Direen, the wife of a garda living in a station in Geashill, Co Offaly. A letter sent to the Chief Superintendent's office at Portlaoise from Garda Headquarters early this month stated that objections from the public, gardai and their families were hampering the mast-sharing agreement with mobile phone operator Esat Digifone.
Under the deal between the Department of Justice and Esat in 1996, the Garda's communications will be upgraded and the masts will be leased to Esat. Almost 420 masts are involved. A total of 132 have been installed and another 209 require planning permission.
The letter printed in the Offaly Express stated that the Garda Commissioner "will have difficulty recommending the continued existence of a rural station where efforts to make the necessary improvements in the communications system is being thwarted".
A Garda spokesman denied last night that the letter was a threat. He said it had been sent to divisional officers for informational and educational purposes. Stations that did not have adequate communications technology could be viewed as sub-standard in a review of the stations' effectiveness, he said.
The Strategic Management Initiative (SMI) review of the force submitted to the Taoiseach in June recommended an overhaul of station opening hours. The report said that current working hours and station opening times resulted in "the availability of an excessive number of gardai on duty at times of least activity."
Mr Kieran McDermott of the Garda Representative Association in Laois/Offaly said there was concern about the effects of radio masts on health. "The Army compensation claims arose because of negligence. Hopefully, it won't go that far. But if a heavy-handed attitude is adopted and it's forced through, then we will have to respond."
Another letter from HQ on the matter, dated November 1997, revealed that all superintendents and chief superintendents had been provided with a free mobile phone as part of the deal and that calls between these phones were free. "This agreement with Esat is a huge benefit to An Garda Siochana and our plans for the future," it stated. The Garda spokesman said all planning applications for the masts were being handled by Esat. However, the document stated that gardai themselves would meet county council members and planning authorities "to explain that with or without Esat we will require these masts to provide the sort of service that the public demand, and consequently, where necessary, will make the planning application ourselves."
The letter continues: "Please ensure that all our members are aware of our contract with Esat Digifone and that they understand that it is in our interest and in the interest of the service that we provide to the community, that the building of our radio masts goes ahead without interruption."
A spokesman for the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors said members were very concerned about emissions from masts. "We are in discussions with the Commissioner on all of the issues." The Garda spokesman said the health issue had been examined and the Commissioner was in discussion will all the representative groups. "If he believed this would affect the health of members and their families, he would have nothing to do with it."
The High Court is expected to rule shortly on objections by a group of parents in Easky, Co Sligo, against an Esat mast at the town's Garda station. The group applied for an injunction earlier this month and judgment was reserved.
