Television blackout on the way

By TOM KELLY

The Mayo Community TV Group is being forced to shut down their deflector systems because of pending legal action. Officers of the group have been served with a High Court writ by Dublin-based firm of solicitors, Cox's, acting on behalf of Cablelink, the Telecom-backed company specialising in piped television.

They have been instructed to remove their deflector equipment from different sites throughout the county or face the consequence of paying substantial fines and possible imprisonment.

The Mayo group, which has provided the deflector service in the region for 16 years, have been warned by their own legal advisors to pull the plug on their deflector stations by the middle of March.

The move will effect a significant area of Mayo, including Westport , Claremorris, Ballinrobe, Achill and Balla. Separate operations are in place in Castlebar, Ballyhaunis and Kiltimagh. The schemes in Ballyhaunis and Kiltimagh are already facing threat from the Limerick-based cable firm, Horizon, while legal action is also being threatened on the Castlebar Deflector Group.

Householders in Mayo have been provided with BBC, UTV and Channel 4 signals at a cost of £25 per annum. They will now be forced to fork out over ten times that amount in the new Cablelink and MMDS services.

Mr Joe Gibbons, chairman of the Mayo TV Deflector Group, said they were being left with no option but to shut down.

"It is a sad day that a local community initiative which has worked perfectly for almost twenty years is now being forced out of existence.

"What is happening is simply not good enough, and we intend to fight tooth and nail to have the system restored.

"I am appealing to all householders in the county to lend their support to the campaign, and we will require financial backing to fight the cause at Government level.

"With a general election coming up, this is going to be a very hot issue. We are going to fight it all the way."

Mr Padraig Cunnane, a member of the Balla Community TV, addressed a meeting of Mayo County Council to outline the facts surrounding the threat to their service.

Members agreed to debate the matter in full at a special meeting.