THE closedown of the deflector system in Co Mayo and elsewhere, which has removed BBC, Channel 4 and ITV channels from televisions after a threat of legal action by MMDS operators against up to 60 deflector groups, has sparked enormous controversy in the county.
A retired postman, Mickey Berry from Westport, said the loss of the channels was just another kick in the teeth for rural Ireland. "It's not fair what the powers that be are doing to the west of Ireland. We had an excellent system being run at a very minor cost and then the Government gave a monopoly franchise to MMDS.
"The fact is the MMDS is not fit to deliver the same service. Now we are losing excellent documentaries, such as a very recent one on the development of rail transport on BBC 2. RTE just hasn't the money to produce similar quality products," he said.
A housewife, Nan Monaghan from Castlebar, said she was devastated by the switch off.
"Our home entertainment has effectively been cut off and most people in the county would simply not be able to afford the connection fees being asked by Cablelink.
"My husband is disabled and cannot leave the house and the TV is his lifeline. You could always plan a good night's entertainment from all the channels but you haven't hope of passing the time with RTE," she said.
A teenager, Fiona McNeill (16), from Louisburg, said: "I'm just mad. We can't get Neighbours or anything like that anymore. We were following Emmerdale on UTV, which was just getting good lately, and RTE, which shows it during school hours, is two months behind. On Friday and Saturday evenings there is nothing for young people to watch on RTE, so we'll have to go and get videos now."
David O'Brien (16), from Claremorris, is equally unhappy. "I feel horrible about it. The British channels are always the best. They show more sports and more recent films than Irish channels and RTE is more old fashioned and most of the programmes are for adults." He would really miss Top of the Pops.
Independent Castlebar UDC councillor Frank Durcan said he would support any candidate going forward on the issue, which he guaranteed would cost the sitting TDs at least one seat in the general election.
"People are being forced out of their houses and back into the pubs because of this. There will be more drinking going on," he said.
But there are some people in Mayo for whom the issue is not a major one.
A presenter on Community Radio Castlebar, Johnny Oosten, said he tended to watch mainly satellite channels, except at weekends when programmes like Blind Date and Strike It Lucky provided perfect family entertainment.
For FAS supervisor Tomas Lally, from Partry, however, television has no part to play in his life. "I made a choice six months ago to remove the TV from my home. Now I tend to listen to a variety of radio stations."