Evidence on DNW Labour and modern communications

Below is a copy of an e-mail from a local resident who is opposing a Meteor mast on a pub on Ballygall Road in East Finglas/Glasnevin area. It shows what I was referring to previously about the local Labour Party which actually disappoints me because this is not the activity of the usual Labour people in other constituencies. However, it is consistent with the populist anti-intellectual behaviour obvious for many years which is electorally highly successful. It is a microcosm of what is wrong with Irish politicians and Irish politics. It makes relevant Churchill’s observations in the quote on Fermanagh and Tyrone.

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My reply to a request to support opposition to mobile phone communication masts

Dear Mr X,

Thank you for your letter and enclosures regarding mobile phones at the
Quarry House pub on Ballygall Road East, Dublin 11.

I am very interested in your letter of appeal to an Bord Pleanala and the
question of toxicity from radio waves and mobile phone transmission. Having
spend many hours perusing the literature published in peer review journals,
I have failed to turn up one statistically valid study that would lend any
weight to substantiate the worry in communities regarding toxicity from mobile phones or their signal transmission. There are now more than 20 billion mobiles in the world and as yet no evidence of toxicity – no brain or other cancers etc. Localised heating to the ear pinna seems to be the valid
finding. Most school children use mobiles with the consent of their parents
who are certainly not oblivious to the precautionary principle. In
Northwest, there is a big problem regarding poor phone coverage which has
been execerbated by the disingenuous and lazy attitude to scientific rigor
displayed by many public representatives.

The aesthetic appearance of these masts often leaves a lot to be desired.
Some of them look awful. Remember the chaotic spikyness of the tv antennae
across every street in this city pointing at Northern Ireland or Wales to
get tv analogue signals. Those of us old enough to remember the snow on
black and white monochrome tvs can only smile at the magnificence of
technological advance in the past 40 years. From wind-up phones with manual operators to mobile blackberries as you drive,life has been transformed for the better.

If you have information to inform me of my errors on these issues, please
let me know.

Very many people in this constituency have complained to me repeatedly
about the poor mobile phone signal especially in their homes. Many elderly have mobile only now and find it maddeningthat in 2010, they cannot hear their relatives and friends on the phone despite free phone calls with various
packages offered by phone companies. There are black holes all over the
area – Griffith Ave, Mobhi Road, Mellowes Road, Beneavin, Sycamore Road,
parts of Ballymun,santry etc

What do you think should be done to solve these problems?

Best Regards

Bill Tormey