The children of Castletown National School in Co Meath returned to school today, but if a mobile phone mast planned for a site just 600 metres from the school gets the green light, their parents will be taking them out of the school for good.
"We don't want a mast here and we want Meath County Council to make a policy decision not to grant permission for masts or base stations within one kilometre of schools," said Mr Brendan Markey of Mast Action in Meath (MAIM).
They have the backing of Meath TD Mr Johnny Brady (FF), who said, "I feel it is a crazy situation that these masts are going up every few miles, north Meath is just polluted with them." The group says if the application by O2 (formerly Esat Digifone) for the 120 foot mast near the school is granted, it will be the sixth mast to have been granted planning permission by the council in a 3 mile radius.
Vodafone and Meteor, as well as O2, have sought the masts.
The group's primary concerns are about possible health risks to the children because of the proximity of the mast to their four-teacher, 132-pupil school. "I was quite happy for my two children to go to Castletown National School, it is only a three-minute walk from here," said Ms Jackie Finney, mother of Emma (8) and Darren (10), who is also chairwoman of the school parents' association.
"If the choice is between better mobile phone reception or a healthy child, the child comes first," she added.
The group fears the children could develop health problems, ranging from poor sleep to cancer, as a result of the microwave radiation from the mast.
Local resident and dentist Dr Don MacAuley believes there is scientific evidence about the potentially damaging effect of radiation from masts.
"At the end of the day, you should accept the precautionary view, and in all probability children are more susceptible to microwave radiation than adults. These companies claim to have up 99 percent coverage, so why do they need these masts in a small area?" he added.
Vodafone spokeswoman Ms Olivia Dobbs said the growing population in the region, as well as the growing popularity of mobile phones, were putting demands on Vodafone for more capacity.
She also said a study commissioned by Eircell four years ago had found no evidence of health risks associated with mobile phone base stations.
In relation to the planning application by O2 for the mast near the school, Meath County Council has asked it to re-examine sharing existing masts with other mobile phone operators.