By Cianna McNally

The operators of the ‘Tetra’ mast system in Carrickmacross came under fire at Monday’s meeting of Carrickmacross Town Council for what Sinn Féin councillor Matt Carthy described as their failure to learn any lessons from the controversy caused by its installation in other towns and its impact on television reception.

In a motion that was put before the members, Councillor Carthy added that the system was installed in Carrickmacross without any form of public consultation or notification of its impact on television receptions. He called on the Tetra system in the town to be disabled until a full review of it and its impact had been completed. “The company switched on the antennae in Carrickmacross knowing that there would be interference. This was very unmannerly as many elderly people and people without Sky television are affected,” Cllr Carthy fumed. He also said he “disagreed entirely” that the cost of putting a system in place at homes to resolve the issue should be borne by the householder. The mast is located in the ESB yard, close to the Drummond Etra housing estate.

Fine Gael’s Mark Clarke supported Cllr Carthy’s views and described the move by the Tetra operators as “pure bullheadedness and ignorance.” He agreed that people should not have to pay to have the problem rectified. Cllr Noel Keelan expressed his disappointment that there had been no form of a public consultation and described the situation as “unacceptable” especially since people pay for their TV licences. Cllr Teresa Carolan added that the issue had caused considerable distress to people as the RTE channels seem to be the worst affected. Cllr Padraig McNally also expressed his disgust at the lack of public consultation on the system as did the newly elected Mayor PJ O’Hanlon. All members of Carrickmacross Town Council voted unanimously to support the motion.