Controversy over the safety or otherwise of telecommunications equipment being put in place all over Ireland has not abated despite yesterday's refusal of an injunction against Esat Digifone sought by parents from Easky, Co Sligo.
The Easky group confirmed that it will be pursuing a full court action against Esat Digifone, which plans to erect the mast on State property and within 60 metres of the local national school. Other communities are planning similar actions.
Esat welcomed the outcome as "another proof point" in allaying health fears. Its chief executive, Mr Barry Maloney, noted extensive international research indicating no health risk from equipment at GSM transmitter base stations, i.e. where masts are located.
A spokeswoman for the Easky parents, Ms Lorely Forrester, said the parents did not accept the findings of an Eircell-commissioned report this week on the issue of base station safety. They did not consider it to be "truly independent". The four medical and scientific experts involved, however, would be considered among the most prominent in their respective fields in Ireland.
The Irish Campaign against Microwave Pollution regretted the court outcome. It questioned current safety standards on the basis that they only take into account possible thermal effects of transmission. In Australia, it noted, new laws require masts to be at least 500 metres from where people are located and to have power emissions many times lower than the most widely-used guideline limit for exposure.
In Britain the Orange digital phone company has welcomed the findings of Dr William Scanlon of the University of Ulster, who has said that alleged harmful effects of radio waves are "currently scientifically unsubstantiated".
All studies of non-thermal effects including cancer risk, he said, had used power levels which far exceeded those in base stations. He had been invited by Orange "to give an independent opinion".
