Phone cable theft leaves Moynalty cut off

A large number of Moynalty householders were left with no phone or internet over the Christmas period after a large amount of telecommunications cable was stolen from local poles.

"During the early hours of Tuesday 21st December a large amount of phone cable was stolen from poles outside Moynalty village," according to Cllr Paul McCabe.

"I understand that the criminal gangs responsible for these ongoing thefts burn out the cable to extract the valuable copper. They have no regard for the massive disruption and inconvenience that these thefts have on local communities. This wasn't the first time cables were stolen from the locality. Back in October a similar incident took place in the same area."

He added: "This was hugely inconvenient for the large number of households affected. It meant that these residents had no phone or internet during the Christmas period until 30th December when EIR crews restored their service. A sizable number of the residents affected are elderly and live alone. Many of these eldery people have panic buttons which were also out of action because of the recent outages. Understandably, this caused a great deal of consternation and nervousness locally."

Cllr McCabe said that An Garda Siochana is currently investigating the thefts.

"I would strongly urge anyone with information to contact Kells Garda Station. Unfortunately this type of crime has become a regular occurrence in recent years. I understand that similar thefts have recently taken place in counties Monaghan, Sligo and Cavan.

"I would urge people to be vigilant for further such incidents in rural areas of county Meath and to report anything out of the ordinary or suspicious to your local Garda Station" concluded Cllr McCabe.