Call to remove 'unsightly' poles that popped up on approach to Mayo tourist location

TWO poles erected in Keel, on Achill Island, have been branded 'unsightly'.

And with existing cables having previously been put underground in the area, Councillor Paul McNamara wants these ones removed.

The Fianna Fáil representative has also questioned the authority by which they were erected. The service provider says Mayo County Council gave permission, but this is commonage land, privately owned, so how could that be, he asked management at a municipal district (MD) meeting.

Councillor McNamara said the issue he and the community have is that the poles are unsightly. They had worked together a number of years ago to get all the poles leading into Keel carrying ESB lines put underground.

But all of a sudden two poles have popped up right as you drive into Keel.

Requests have been made to the service provider to remove them and go underground.

The provider, he said, had told him the land is privately owned and they have permission to be there, given by Mayo County Council along with NBI. He didn't know how that could be as the land is commonage, privately owned, not public.

He commented that it was 'ridiculous', as if any of the local residents did that they would have An Taisce, parks and wildlife and everything to do with an SAC area down on top of them. But in this case nothing has been done.

In the last correspondence he had from the provider, it said licences were approved by the council. NBI applied for the two poles on public land, 'which is incorrect', and that was subsequently approved by the council, which he found hard to believe.

They said they asked NBI and a field engineer to visit the site and they were happy with what they saw.

Councillor McNamara asked the MD to write to the provider and ask who gave them permission and to request they remove the poles and put their cables underground.