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Mast retention application rejected
Ireland	Created: 7 Sep 2010
A DECISION to reject an application for the retention of a phone mast close to a kids’ school in Castleknock has been warmly welcomed. Fingal County Council refused retention permission for the two antennae and one dish which had been mounted on the clubhouse of Castleknock Tennis Club. Concerns had been raised in relation to the mast’s proximity to a Castleknock Educate Together National School which is situated only 60 metres away from the tennis club. It was this fact which was the determining factor given by Fingal County Council when it refused permission for the mast retention on August 19. Local councillor, Matt Waine (SP), was among those who welcomed the council’s decision although he questioned how the mast had been erected on the clubhouse in the first place. “We share many of the concerns of many experts on the long-term health effects of exposure to radiofrequency radiation associated with phone masts,” he stated. “The information is at best inconclusive, and the most authoritative reports, such as the Stewart Report commissioned by the British Government, calls for a ‘precautionary approach’ to the siting of phone masts.” Cllr Waine expressed concern of how advances and demand in internet accessibility could have a detrimental affect on people’s health and called for stricter enforcement. “I am also deeply concerned with what the role out of 3G internet, digital TV and WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) will mean,” he stated. “The effect of higher emissions for longer periods are unknown and it is high time the Government commissioned independent research. “The current ‘guidelines’ of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) are over ten years old and can’t be deemed reliable, predating, as they do, WiMax and digital TV.” In its refusal of the mast retention, Fingal County Council stated that the mast and antennae would contravene planning regulations. “Objective IT03 of the Fingal Development Plan 2005-2011 seeks to ensure that areas of land within 200 metres in radius around school premises and sites are kept free from the erection of mobile phone masts,” Fingal County Council stated in its decision. “The development for retention of two antennae and one dish antennae, all face mounted on the clubhouse building are located some 60 metres from Castleknock Educate Together school building which falls within the 200 metre radii and as such, the development for which retention permission is sought, materially contravenes Objective IT03 of the Fingal Development Plan 2005-2011.”
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Source: Dublin People, 02 Sep 2010

Mast refusal a victory for people power
Ireland	Created: 23 Jul 2010
SOUTHSIDE residents have welcomed a decision by An Bord Pleanála to refuse planning permission for a mobile phone mast at the grounds of a local football club. The 18.5 metre high mast was erected on the grounds of TEK United Football Club at Rockford Park in Stradbrook by the Meteor mobile phone company late last year without planning permission. Following an outcry by local residents, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council instructed the company to remove the mast but Meteor subsequently applied for retention planning permission. Meteor then appealed a subsequent decision by the council to reject permission for the retention of the mast. The local authority received 26 submissions from residents who were opposed to the development. Some locals launched a campaign opposing the application to retain the structure, which is located within metres of residential homes, local schools and a crèche, on the grounds that it would be visually obtrusive. Other residents opposed the development because of perceived health concerns. An Bord Pleanála rejected the appeal of Meteor on the grounds that the mast was “visually obtrusive and oppressive” and therefore detracted from the residential amenity of the area, particularly when viewed from nearby St Fintan’s Park, Villas and Deansgrange Road. The planning appeals board also said the dominating view of the mast and antennas when viewed from the rear garden areas would “seriously injure the residential and visual amenities associated with the properties”. Eamonn Bolger (51), who lives at St Fintan's Villas - about 100 metres from the site of the proposed mast. “What really annoyed me initially was the way it was erected without planning permission,” he said. “I think it is an absolute disgrace that when someone puts up a structure, be it a mast or anything else, they are allowed to apply for retention permission.” Cllr Richard Boyd Barrett (PBP) described the decision as a “real victory for local residents and people power”. “The whole retention system that sees developers put up unauthorised developments and then apply for permission should be reviewed,” he said. “We also need tighter regulations on mobile phone masts in general. As long as there is uncertainty around the potential health- risks associated with these masts, they should be kept well away from schools and residential areas.” A spokeswoman for Meteor said they were unaware that the erection of the mast required planning permission. “In 2009, as part of our mobile broadband network roll out, Meteor identified the existing aerial/pole as potentially suitable for the location of equipment to provide mobile broadband to the surrounding area,” she said. “By swapping the pole at TEK Utd, it removed the need to build a new 25m telecoms mast in the area. “Meteor believed that the installation was carried out within the planning regulations.” She added: “As with all installations, Meteor fully complies with the public exposure guidelines recommended by the International Commission on Non-ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and this has been evidenced by the independent audits undertaken by ComReg [communications regulator].”
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Source: Dublin People, 22 Jul 2010

Karolinska `Nobel Prize' Institute threatens work of noted wireless safety researcher
Ireland	Created: 9 Jul 2010
An eminent Swedish professor at the prestigious Karolinska Institute in Stockholm is being blocked from completing replication experiments aimed at seeking a definitive answer to the effects of electromagnetic frequencies on the human body. Prof. Olle Johansson, a long-time critic of wireless communications technology, based on his research, has been informed that his offices and lab are required for other purposes, effectively blocking privately supported experiments scheduled for August and September. Johansson is associate professor and head of department at the Experimental Dermatology Unit in the institute's Department of Neuroscience in Stockholm. He is also a professor with the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology. Johansson first came to the attention of the public when his work led to improved computer screens to protect office workers from what he found as the adverse effects of radiation emitted from monitors. Next month's planned experiments are intended to replicate the experiments of Dr. Magda Havas of Trent U University, Canada whose work led to the cancellation of wi-fi in San Francisco and the recent new law requiring warning labels on mobile phones. San Francisco has yet to address the issue of radiation from mobile phone and other telecommunications masts. Observers claim the current controversy at the Karolinska Institute follows Johansson's efforts to assist activists in Ireland opposed to the proliferation of telecommunications masts to protect children who absorb up to 75 percent of this type of radiation into their brains. During a visit to Ireland he was quoted as saying "No level of radiation is safe.". The cash-strapped Irish government through the communications regulatory body, ComReg, has introduced what it calls "Test and Trial", a program where companies are invited to test their wireless equipment in a live environment. Most recently, Ericsson, the Swedish telecommunications giant conducted tests in the 2.3GHz band at speeds of up to 80MBits/sec using a license issued under ComReg's Test and Trial licensing program. The experiment used TD-LTE, originally promoted by China Mobile using paired spectrum with separated channels as a competitior to Intel's Wimax, signal. The TD-LTE technology provides high-speed broadband services which can be used to support services such as high-definition TV, video conferencing and many others" without the need for new devices. Ericsson has two Irish addresses: one in Dublin and its Software Campus at Athlone, Co. Westmeath, the company's first R&D lab outside Sweden. The test was conducted using a "large black box" broadcasting from a taxi. No mention of public safety of the test was made by Ericsson. Two weeks ago, the city of San Francisco passed the first law in the US requiring retailers to display the amount of radiation given off by mobile phones. In retaliation after the vote, the CTIA wireless trade group called off its Autumn show, set for San Francisco. The city stands to lose $80 million in economic activity generated by the 3-day Enterprise and Applications Show, attended by 68,000 visitors. The show has been staged In San Francisco five of the last seven years. Last week U.S. President Barack Obama signed a memorandum doubling the number of frequencies available for wireless devices. The move is intended to create jobs and boost investment in the $153 billion wireless market over the next 10 years. The availability of a bigger chunk of wireless spectrum would allow faster delivery of data and video onto smart phones and other next-generation devices. Digital television is generally regarded as particularly dangerous by the physics community due to the large volume of information incorporated into the carrier waves. Obama's memo jump-starts an effort to make available over the next 10 years 500 megahertz of government and commercial spectrum, which reflects a recommendation by the Federal Communications Commission in its National Broadband Plan released in March. In the nation's largest cities, local TV stations use about 150 megahertz, according to the National Broadband Plan. Researchers such as Dr. George Carlo, of the Science and Public Policy Institute at the Institute for Healthful Adaptation in Washington, D.C. assert that it is not the microwaves [themselves] but [modulated] microwaves which carry information that are the cause of the drastic increase in a number of diseases. In Ireland, for example, in a request for funding infection-free examination rooms for cancer patients, the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland (RCPI) predicted last week that by the year 2025, half the population will suffer from some form of cancer. In April, The European Academy for Environmental Medicine issued the Wuerzberg Appeal, outlining the increasing prevalence of chronic multisystem illnesses such as multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), fibromyalgia (FMS) as well as cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, neurodegenerative diseases, auto immune diseases and cancer. These multisystem diseases are considered chronic inflammatory processes influenced by environmental factors including chemical pollutants, biological infectious agents and electromagnetic field (EMF) triggers. Johansson's difficulties began last year when he was approached by Staffan Cullheim, head of the neuroscience department, who informed the professor he was to vacate his premises immediately because they were to be used as an "animal house for ferrets". Johansson refused point blank and the issue was dropped. The professor became ill and required surgery. Still convalescing, he returned to work and was again confronted by Cullheim, this time with plans to use his office and lab for an imaging facility. Commenting on the Karolinska Institute's attempted closure of Johansson's research facilities, Dr. Carlo, said, "Olle Johansson's lab is one of the few remaining places in the world where independent, non-industry funded research on EMR health effects is being done. It would be a tragedy if he were to be suppressed from carrying on his work." The Karolinska Institute has a long history of intellectual scientific rigor as well as honours. Each year the Nobel Assembly of 50 Karolinska professors collates the nominees for the world famous Nobel awards in the fields physiology or medicine. Prof. Harriet Walberg-Henriksson, president of the Karolinska Institute, and Prof. Bernd Huber, chairman of the League of European Research Universities, have not responded to queries regarding Johansson's status, research or the timing of the proposed closure of his lab.
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Source: International EMF Alliance, John Weigel, 09 Jul 2010

Does wi-fi technology pose potential risk?
Ireland	Created: 4 May 2010
The unknown health hazards posed by wireless technology like wi-fi zones and mobile phones is similar to the trendiness of cigarettes 20 years ago, according to the Irish Doctor’s Environmental Association (IDEA). “It’s now considered cool for young people to play with wireless technology for hours and have mobile phones at a young age, but people should be using grounded and wired technology to prevent exposure to electromagnetic radiation, particularly around children in schools,” said Juliet Duff, IDEA spokesperson, at the organisation’s AGM on 17 April. One of the biggest health hazards of using wireless technology is the effect radiation can have on our DNA, she said. “Once the DNA is damaged, it’s no longer linked to just one generation; it has a [longer-term] effect,” she said. Electromagnetic radiation can pass through the blood-brain barrier in the skull, she added. “Very little passes through this area and there’s not much defence, so cancer in the brain is becoming a risk along with cancer in other parts of the body that have been exposed,” Duff explained. Other issues discussed during the AGM included the need for sustainable development in order to prevent multi-faceted crises and the increasing respiratory health problems associated with climate change, pollution, clean potable water shortages and food security.
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Source: Irish Medical Times, Aoife Connors, 03 may 2010

Important!!!! Meeting IDEA AGM "HEATH HAZARDS OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION" 17th April. 2010: Time: 9:30 Dublin.
Ireland	Created: 17 Apr 2010
IDEA AGM on Saturday 17th April 9:30 a.m. at Trinity College Dublin, UI Chadhain Lecture Theatre, Arts Building. All welcome Admission free. SATURDAY 17TH APRIL 11.00 a.m. UPDATES BEYOND COPENHAGEN. Feargal Duff, IDEA's International Policy Advisor 11.30 a.m. ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH IN THE 21ST CENTURY. Juliet Duff Chairperson of IDEA 12.00 noon HEATH HAZARDS OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION. (Wireless technologies, mobile phones.......) Olle Johannson Associate professor Karolinska Institute The Royal Institute of Technology Trinity College Dublin Ui Chadhain Lecture Theatre Arts Building Also: ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of Irish Doctors Environmental Association [IDEA] 9.30 a.m. All welcome Admission free Irish Doctors Environmental Association [IDEA] Cumann Comhshaoil Dhoctúirí na hÉireann http://www.ideaireland.org/IDEA_Meeting_Apr2010.pdf
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Source: Iris Atzmon

Four companies seek use of Leixlip Garda mast
Ireland	Created: 7 Apr 2010
An Bord Pleanála's has decided that the telecommunications mast on the new Leixlip Garda station does not require planning permission. In a decision last week, the appeals board decided that even though there will be commercial technology on the mast in addition to the technolgy needs for key security and emergency state services, the development is known as exempt development. F ADVERTISEMENT our commercial operators have applied to put technology on the mast, according to the report of the Bord inspector. A group concerned over safety issues, the Alliance for Irish Radiation Protection (AIRP), referred the question to the board over the status of the TETRA communication system. AIRP's Leixlip-based spokesperson, John Weigel, expressed their unhappiness with the decision (ED/00314). Recently, Cllr. Catherine Murphy tried to put a provision in the draft County Development Plan (CDP) whereby there could be some control over the commercial elements of the masts, as opposed to the security or Garda element. But Council officials rejected her call stating the CDP would have to comply with national legislation and policy. Commenting, the AIRP said it is not appropriate for Ministerial appointees without appropriate educational backgrounds to be in a position to make decisions which, according to our world-class expert advisors, have the potential to affect the entire genome of the Irish population. Mr. Weigel said: "In the context of the mast at the Leixlip Garda station, indeed, the entire Tetra system used by An Garda Síochana, there is not (as far as we are aware) one scientist or physicist or individual with the appropriate knowledge base to assess the impact regarding the location of communications masts on the board of An Bord Pleanála." It said the proliferation of masts is not unlike the financial regulatory bodies which were asked to regulate the very people who appointed them. "The health of the nation is compromised on two fronts –a medical establishment which has not been educated about the effects of microwave radiation and a political process which is closed," it said. AIRP also criticised Ireland's failure to implement the voluntary Aarhus Convention to which it is a signatory and which is designed to open political dialogue between citizens and their governments. "A second, more unfortunate factor, is the government's failure to implement its own recommendations. These include the use of fibre-optic cabling in built-up areas and the establishment of the mandated Irish Radiological Protection Board." The AIPR argued that an Bord Pleanála has failed to meet the goals of its own mission statement which are to have regard to relevant Government and Ministerial policies and be aware of the concerns of stakeholders. "It is our opinion that while we have made An Bord Pleanála aware of the concerns of stakeholders, the Board has shown more than regard for Government and Ministerial policies." The electromagnetic radiation expert who addresed a public meeting in Leixlip last year, Professor Olle Johannson of the Karolinska Institute will speak at an Irish Doctors Environmental Association conference in Trinity on Saturday, 17 April (12 noon) in the Arts Building (Ui Chadhain Lecture Theatre).
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Source: Leinster Leader, Henry Bauress, 07 Apr 2010

Fury over 'illegal' O2 mast eyesore
Ireland	Created: 31 Mar 2010
FURIOUS residents living close to an O2 phone mast in a north Dublin industrial estate claim that "the huge monstrosity" beside their homes is illegal. Residents of Claremont and The Willows housing estates, in Glasnevin, say a 45-metre-high mast which carries 12 antennae, is an ugly eyesore, and it does not currently have planning permission. Over 20 submissions have been sent to Dublin City Council on O2's application to keep the mast there, and around the same number have also been sent to An Bord Pleanala. An Bord Pleanala granted O2 planning permission for the mast in 2003, for a period of five years. But since the five-year period has now expired, the mast is an unauthorised structure. Dublin City Council refused O2's application for retention of the structure on January 20, and O2 has appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanala. Around 200 residents have signed a petition to get the structure removed, and they are angry that O2 has only held one meeting with them up until this point. One resident, Nicholas Quinlan, said: "When it was first erected, there was no consultation with residents. O2 constructed a huge, indescribable, monstrosity of a mast." Dublin City Council has now taken proceedings against O2, which it started on April 28, 2009 after they received complaints from locals. A spokesperson for DCC said: "Legal proceedings were initiated as the developer failed to comply with an Enforcement Notice served by the Council on 25 June 2009, and the case has been adjourned to 22 June 2010 for mention." Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Telefonica O2 Ireland said it has applied for permission to retain the mast in the "key site" for providing mobile phone coverage to 02 customers in surrounding areas.
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Source: Herald, Geraldine Gittens, 26 Mar 2010

A Taste of What's To Come: Japanese government ordered to recognise Hiroshima radiation cases
Ireland	Created: 1 Dec 2009
This is about compensation for ionizing radiation sickness, but does offer a clue about what might be down the telescope for victims of non-ionizing radiation - which according to independent scientists, is eerily similar. -------------------------------------- Two Japanese courts have partially recognized law suits from five more people suffering from radiation-linked illnesses due to the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The government had tried to defend itself against the law suits and have over the years lost a series of similar cases. The five were among seven of plaintiffs who had never been recognized as suffering from radiation illnesses under the Japanese certification system dealing with World War II injury complaints. A total of 34 plaintiffs had filed the two suits seeking certification and compensation of three million yen each from the state. As ordered by the courts, twenty-seven of them have now been given certification but had their compensation claims turned down. But the plaintiffs are likely to receive some monetary compensation from the state under an agreement.
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Source: Irish Sun, 30 Nov 2009

Why the farmers and phone companies may cease to be friends
Ireland	Created: 22 Oct 2009
TENS OF thousands of mobile telephone masts are dotted around Britain’s green and pleasant land to supply the needs of mobile customers. Everybody wants a good signal, but few want the masts. An eyesore for many and a health risk for some, the masts have, however, been a valuable cash crop for farmers and landowners, offering a dependable income of up to £7,000 (€7,740) a year per mast, when little else of the farmer’s life can be depended upon. The frenzy of mast erection reached its peak in the years after 2001 when mobile companies paid more than £22 billion (€24 billion) to the British government for 3G and broadband licences in the biggest auction of its type. Specialist firms were set up to help farmers win the best deals, while the Country Land and Business Association weighed in to ensure the multibillion-pound telecom networks did not buy cheap. Some locations were veritable gold mines, says David Pardoe of Savills estate agents, with a mast on a hill near a major town being worth “tens of thousands” to the landowner. However, the Klondike days of the early part of the decade are gone. Sales of 3G handsets, which deliver high-speed internet access, have not been as successful as had been hoped, apart from Apple’s iPhone. The UK now has more mobile phones than people, and the credit crisis and recession has hurt the telecoms companies’ bottom line, which explains the effort to shave £2 billion off costs over the next decade by pooling networks. It began with a sharing deal between T-Mobile and Hutchison 3G, and accelerated with the proposed merger of T-Mobile and Orange, while parallel arrangements have been announced by Vodafone and O2. The Orange/T-Mobile merger announced last month will see 8,000 masts being decommissioned, while another 10,000 or more will disappear in coming years as the others start to share masts. Of the 50,000-odd masts in the UK, almost one in two are on farmland, threatening farmers – often those with the best sites on mountains and hills near towns and cities – with losses that could run to £100 million a year, and more. In Devon and Cornwall farmers can get £5,000 a year per mast: “In Sussex, one farmer has four of them in a line on his 100-acre farm, so the rent is a substantial part of his income,” said Tom Bodley Scott of estate agent Batcheller Thacker. Mobile firms make good tenants, with the rent paid on time. “Farmers can make as much this way as they would from renting a cottage, and this is far less hassle than doing that where you can have all sorts of problems,” he said. And the mast rents have been steadily increasing. In 2003 the average rent paid by mobile firms came to £4,400 a year, with this rising to £7,335 by last year, an 8 per cent rise on the year before. Mobile firms are already attempting to secure better deals from farmers, threatening to remove masts unless rents are cut, though, so far, few have actually taken their equipment away. Like their counterparts in Ireland, British farmers have been hit by falls in commodity prices for milk and cereals this year, though the fall in the value of sterling has softened the blow. Some 2,000 farmers throughout the UK are quitting agriculture every year and the trend has rarely varied in recent years, says Tom Hind of the National Farmers’ Union. So far, British farmers are being saved the worst of the pain because sterling’s weakness makes agricultural imports more expensive, thus leaving more of the home market for them. “The situation is not as bad as it is elsewhere in the European Union for farmers, but things are not great in the rest of the economy so that has hurt farmers’ ability to diversify into other areas. “The easiest way for them to make extra money, obviously, is for them to lease farm buildings as business units, but there isn’t too much of that going on at the moment,” says Hind. Lawyers are likely to enjoy some rich pickings as phone companies attempt to quit rent deals, since, in many cases, they do not have the right to share masts under the terms of the original agreements. But even as mobile firms seek to cull their mast numbers, concerns remain about the quality of coverage in rural areas, with the problem worsening as the data being transmitted becomes ever more complicated. “Major technological developments are taking place. This is being done to save costs, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the mobile companies were coming back to knock on people’s doors in two years’ time to put masts up again,” says Bodley-Scott.
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Source: Irish Times, MARK HENNESSY, 22 Oct 2009

Mobile mast guidelines to be adopted by 2010
Ireland	Created: 19 Oct 2009
Mobile phone masts erected in Co Donegal will soon have to be at least one kilometre away from national schools under local authority guidelines. A motion calling for the stipulation to be incorporated into the county development plan was unanimously backed at Friday’s adjourned meeting of Donegal County Council. It comes as controversy continues over plans for a 3G mast to be erected at Finabanes near Donegal Town. Mayor of Donegal, Cllr Brendan Byrne says the guidelines should be adopted by early 2010.
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Source: Ocean FM, 19 Oct 2009

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