A mobile telephone mast has been dressed to look like a tree.
Eircell has erected a telephone mast camouflaged as a tree. The result has been met with divided opinion.
First, there was the mobile phone mast in the Kells lighthouse, then they put one in a church tower in Navan, and today they branched out again to Mullingar in County Westmeath camouflaging it this time as a tree.
Edel Clancy, Eircell, says that disguising telephone masts as trees is common in America where palm trees have been used along beachfronts. Eircell believes a similar approach would work in Ireland to blend the masts into the countryside and the landscape. In Westmeath, the 20 metre high mast is modelled on a conifer. Manufactured in England the mast was erected complete with painted trunk and branches. The challenge for Eircell is to balance the best coverage and customer service while taking account of the environment.
The new mast has not been well received well by many local people. Many of them objected at the planning stage. One local man says,
It's a terrible looking sight. It does not resemble a tree in any shape or form to me.
Eircell say that they will consider the widespread reaction before deciding to build any more.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 28 January 1999. The reporter is Ciaran Mullooly.
