The wife of a Co Offaly garda has barricaded the entrance to the yard of the married quarters at the Garda station in Geashill to prevent the erection of an Esat Digifone mast.
Mrs Teresa Direen, who lives with her husband, Pat, at the station has padlocked the gates to the yard and parked cars close by to prevent entry after an attempt last Monday to begin work on the mast.
"I am a virtual prisoner in my own home and I am going to stay here to ensure that the work does not go ahead because my first job is to protect the health of my children," she said.
"There have been no assurances from the Garda authorities that a mast, which is located only 21 feet from the back door of my home, will not cause injury to my children's health." Mrs Direen, the mother of 10 children, went public on the issue last January when she prevented work on the mast, which the Garda says is necessary for its communications network.
The Garda authorities denied they had threatened to close the station if Mrs Direen persisted in opposing the development, which is part of a deal between the Garda and the mobile-phone company.
Mrs Direen lodged a formal objection to the mast with Offaly County Council last spring. It emerged, however, that no planning permission was required because there was an existing mast in the station yard.
Last Monday Mrs Direen found workmen with a compressor in the yard and asked them to leave. "They were pleasant enough, but they told me they were quite entitled to do what they wanted on the mast. I told them they could not and to get out of my back yard," she said.
"The team of men were quite polite, but they made it perfectly clear that they were going to do the work. I told them I would chain myself to the mast before I would allow any such development in my back yard, and eventually they went away."
Mrs Direen immediately put locks on a gate leading to the back garden and parked two cars, one immediately inside and one outside the gate.
Since then entry to the station's married quarters can only be gained by climbing over the gate.
Mrs Direen said that after the crew left a senior Garda official was sent out to speak to her, and she repeated her opposition to any development at the mast.
"I told him that I did not have the necessary assurances to allow the mast to go ahead and I had already said my bit. I cannot put my children in this kind of danger," she said.
She was now afraid to leave her house in case entry was forced against her wishes and the mast was put up. She said a generator was also planned for the back garden.
Mrs Direen said that on Tuesday night she was told by the Garda authorities that if necessary force would be used to remove the cars from the driveway.
She said she was aware of the difficulties her opposition created for her husband, but she was not a member of the force, and her first duty was to her children.
Yesterday Mrs Direen repeated her determination to prevent the development going ahead.
"I am not going to allow a mast to be built there, and that is that," she said. "I am not going to be driven out of the home where I have lived, and which I have paid rent on, for the past 15 years." She said she may take legal action to prevent the work going ahead.
She believes she has a constitutional right to protect her children and her home.
Last night the Green MEP for Leinster, Ms Nuala Ahern, pledged her party's support for Mrs Direen and her family. She would use all the resources she could muster to ensure that they could get on with their lives without the threat of danger, she said.
"I am also calling on the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, to ensure that her constitutional rights are upheld," said Ms Ahern, who is travelling to Geashill today to investigate the situation and to show solidarity with the family.
"Why did the Department of Justice negotiate a deal with Esat Digifone without safeguarding the rights of Garda families?" she asked.
A Garda spokesman said last night that the deal between the authorities and Esat Digifone was necessary so that the communications system could be replaced.
"While it is a very good deal, we want to do the work without confrontation with local people," he added.