ESB plans masts in Shercock and Cavan

ESB Networks has plans for two new masts outside Cavan Town and in Shercock.

The utility claims the structures are needed to improve mobile phone and broadband coverage in surrounding areas and to increase the capacity for transmission equipment.

In its applications to Cavan County Council, ESB Networks says both masts will be 30m high and be located on lands the company owns.

The Cavan Town structure is planned for a site in the Moynehall area, which it says will host antennae, communication dishes and associated ground equipment, all within a 2.4m high palisade fence compound.

In its application, it says the mast would allow multiple phone and broadband operators to “deliver the latest services to end users in the Moynehall area”. It says while there are two existing masts within a 2km radius of the site, one is already at capacity and one is located on a building which does not give sufficient coverage to the area due to the height of the surrounding landscape. The Shercock mast is also planned to be 30m high, with it also hosting antennae, communication dishes and associated ground equipment, within a 2.4m high palisade fence compound. If approved, it will be built at the ESB substation in the Latterriff area, a site the company says is populated with a large number of pylons and other equipment.

Again, two existing masts in the area - one of which is located at the town’s Garda Station - are insufficient for use due to the low height of one and the other being at capacity.

In both submissions, ESB Networks says “telecommunications connectivity is now considered the fourth utility” and the increase in the number of people working from home necessitates an increase in capacity.

Cavan County Council is due to make a decision on both applications by February 25.