Environmental issues are set to dominate in the New Ross area in the run-up to next month's local elections.
Opposition in Co Wexford to the erection of mobile phone masts, genetic engineering trials by Monsanto at Arthurstown and the prospect of a major waste disposal incinerator at Campile have prompted a 20-year-old science student at NUI Maynooth to stand for election to Wexford County Council.
Mr John Moore, who is from a farming background in Robinstown, near New Ross, Co Wexford, says there are a large number of people in the area "who feel they are not being properly represented".
He says no more mobile phone masts should be erected until the "serious health concerns" of people who live near them are properly addressed. He also suggests a "recycle first" approach should be applied to the issue of waste management.
Both issues are a source of major concern in the New Ross area. A group of residents in Rathgarogue, about four miles from New Ross, are in the eighth week of a 24-hour picket at the site of a proposed Eircell mast. A spokeswoman for the group, Countess Ann Bernstorff, says the picket will remain "for as long as it takes to get the result we need".
While the South East Regional Authority insists that no specific location has been identified for an incinerator to dispose of the region's waste, one commercial consortium suggested siting it at the Great Island power station near Campile. This has caused considerable anxiety among local residents about the risk to health and safety.
Mr Moore, who is standing as an independent candidate, will not be the first member of his family to take a public stand on political issues. His ancestor, also John Moore, led "the first rebellion in Wexford in 1793", he says.