Council rejects proposal to oppose testing for 5G broadband in Tipp

A Notice of Motion which proposed to reject testing of the roll out of 5G in County Tipperary was dismissed at a meeting of Tipperary County Council this week, but only after two votes had been taken on the matter.

A proposal which had the propensity to announce to the world that Tipperary is closed for business and which would send out a very negative impression of the county, was how Chief Executive Officer, Mr Joe MacGrath described the Notice of Motion which had been tabled by Cllr Pat English twelve months ago, but which took a long time to get to the council chamber – members had taken advice from Environmental Protection Agency on the matter and there was further suggestion that another expert from UCC should be brought to address the public representatives before a decision was made on the Notice of Motion.

However, Cllr Michael Smith, Cathaoirleach of the council said that the matter had been carefully considered by the councils Corporate Policy Group and was now before the members for decision. He informed members that he was allowing the motion to go to a vote, when a counter motion was submitted, seeking a workshop with Professor Tom Butler from UCC who would give a counter view on the matter – some members had expressed fears for safety with 5G and said that they did not know enough about the ramifications without being advised. This proposal was defeated by 19 votes to 16, with 5 absentees. And so, the main motion was ready to be put to a vote.

Mr MacGrath said: “This Notice of Motion could send out a very negative message in the sense of suggesting that this county is closed for business. Our future desire as a rural county with rural hubs delivered and a working from home strategy could be very compromised,” said Mr MacGrath who appealed to the members to be very conscious of the ramifications of their decision when it came to voting.

The motion from Cllr English which was seconded by Cllr Niall Dennehy: “That Tipperary County Council opposes the testing and roll out of 5G in County Tipperary and call on COMREG to deny licencing for the roll out of 5G and furthermore that this Council calls on the Minister for Communication, Climate Change and the Environment, to establish the facts about the radiation impact of 5G on the environment and human health with references to the current global scientific knowledge available,” was defeated by 27 votes to 8, with four absentees and one abstention.

Cllrs Dennehy and English pointed out that they are not against broadband, or 5G, but they did feel the need to be armed with all points of view before making any decisions.

Debate on the Notice of Motion was robust and protracted with conflicting views being expressed by members of all political persuasion and none. However, the overwhelming feeling of members was that any attempt to prevent 5G broadband from being rolled out across The Premier County would be very detrimental, especially at a time when broadband is so important to so many households and businesses in the rural parts of the community at large.