
Belfast 5G mast set alight in suspected deliberate attack
The burning of a 5G mast on the outskirt of Belfast is being treated as a suspected deliberate attack.
The incident happened in the Springbank Industrial estate in Dunmurry on Saturday.
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A police spokesperson said they received a report shortly after 2.40pm that a 5G mast has been set alight in the area.
'Colleagues from Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service attended and extinguished the fire,' they said.
'Inquiries are continuing and at this stage, the fire is being treated as deliberate ignition.
'We are appealing to anyone who was in the area and who may have information, dash-cam or other footage, to contact us on 101, quoting reference number 801 07/06/25.'
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Sinn Féin West Belfast MP Paul Maskey condemned the incident.
'I want to strongly condemn the latest suspected arson attack on a 5G mast,' he said.
'This behaviour is both ludicrous and absolutely nonsensical.
'Just a few weeks ago, Sinn Fein published the results of a survey highlighting widespread mobile signal black spots across the west of the city — some of which are due to damage caused to masts.
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'We will continue our efforts to secure better mobile coverage for our communities.
'Those responsible for this disgraceful vandalism must be brought to justice, and I urge anyone with information to come forward and contact the PSNI.'
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BreakingNews.ie
5 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Belfast 5G mast set alight in suspected deliberate attack
The burning of a 5G mast on the outskirt of Belfast is being treated as a suspected deliberate attack. The incident happened in the Springbank Industrial estate in Dunmurry on Saturday. Advertisement A police spokesperson said they received a report shortly after 2.40pm that a 5G mast has been set alight in the area. 'Colleagues from Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service attended and extinguished the fire,' they said. 'Inquiries are continuing and at this stage, the fire is being treated as deliberate ignition. 'We are appealing to anyone who was in the area and who may have information, dash-cam or other footage, to contact us on 101, quoting reference number 801 07/06/25.' Advertisement Sinn Féin West Belfast MP Paul Maskey condemned the incident. 'I want to strongly condemn the latest suspected arson attack on a 5G mast,' he said. 'This behaviour is both ludicrous and absolutely nonsensical. 'Just a few weeks ago, Sinn Fein published the results of a survey highlighting widespread mobile signal black spots across the west of the city — some of which are due to damage caused to masts. Advertisement 'We will continue our efforts to secure better mobile coverage for our communities. 'Those responsible for this disgraceful vandalism must be brought to justice, and I urge anyone with information to come forward and contact the PSNI.'


BBC News
7 hours ago
- BBC News
5G masts: West Belfast residents fear and stress over phone signal
A series of arson attacks on 5G masts in west Belfast have left people feeling like they are "going backwards" in terms of mobile phone signal, residents and businesses in the area say. A mast that police said was deliberately set on fire at an industrial estate in Dunmurry on Saturday has been extinguished. Between January 2023 and December 2024, there were 13 incidents involving masts in the area, the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service has said. The vandalism has resulted in sporadic, unreliable phone signal in some areas, with one man who lives on the Glen Road saying it is "very frustrating" when it "fades out completely". Attacks include phone masts being deliberately set on fire on the Andersonstown Road and Stewartstown Road."I'm on work calls and I have to try to second guess the exact spot in the house to stand in, so that I can continue a conversation," Jim Deeds told BBC News NI. His mother is housebound and recently had a fall. He said she "relies on the mobile phone, just to check in through the day"."There are times when I'm on a call with her and it sounds like she's underwater."Sometimes she feels that she's to blame, that maybe she's not mastering the technology when it isn't that at all," he said.A spokesperson for Virgin Media O2 said five west Belfast sites have been the target of arson attacks in the last 12 months, affecting "the coverage and capacity of the network".It said its team was "working hard to get these damaged masts working again and has carried out optimisation work to improve the coverage whilst repairs take place". Other network providers are also affected by the mast attacks. What is behind the west Belfast mast attacks? While the masts carry signal for a phone network, the actual physical infrastructure is owned and operated by the firm Cornerstone - it said it was aware some people have concerns about mobile phone base stations."The strong consensus of expert groups and public health agencies, such as the World Health Organization, is that no health risks have been established from exposure to the low-level radio signals used by these base stations," Cornerstone said. "Without network coverage, west Belfast will miss out on the kind of opportunities that will make the area a better place to live." The Police Service of Northern Ireland "believe it is one anti 5G activist individual carrying out the mobile phone base station arson attacks," Cornerstone News NI asked the PSNI about this, and they said that "officers keep an open mind to reports of this nature" but added "potential links are explored" and "each case is reviewed on its own merit".The PSNI was also asked for the number of 5G phone masts that have been burned but it said it does not hold that MP for the area, Sinn Féin's Paul Maskey, wants Cornerstone and network providers to do is due to meet those companies at Westminster on Wednesday, when he said he will ask them to find locations for masts "which are out of the way".Maskey described the signal in west Belfast as "pretty bad for a long time" and he recently conducted a survey to gauge the scale of the said, from the 2,602 people who responded, 87% described phone signal as poor or very poor, with only 3% saying it was good or described the results as "staggering", adding: "People are very unhappy." The deputy lord mayor of Belfast Paul Doherty, from the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), runs a food bank and community hub in Andersonstown. He said they have had to "change and adapt" the way they work because of poor signal."We have to bring in extra volunteers for a call-out service to knock on people's doors."In some cases we've found that people are very much isolated, unable to pick up the phone to ask for help, so that's kind of stretched us," he added. What do west Belfast people think about their phone signal? On the streets of west Belfast, people and business owners told BBC News NI of their connectivity issues."There's no signal in the house," said Bridget Mongan, who lives in the Andersonstown daughter, Mary, added: "It cuts off."The weather could be bad, but you stand out in the rain." A staff member at McGrath's Pharmacy on the Glen Road said the signal "can come on and off".Noleen recalled "one incident, whenever our phones were down, we couldn't actually call out to the company to get in contact to say to them that we're having problems". "Also with customers too we can have problems if they're missing their medication; to get through to their surgeries and GP can be a bit of a problem," she added. Debbie Adams, manager at Gransha Dental, on the Glen Road, said: "I don't think at this rate that we're even getting 2G. "We're going backwards, instead of forwards, in terms of the connectivity."She said sometimes when customers need to make a payment towards treatments, "they need to then transfer from their phone to bank account to bank account, and with lack of signal it makes it difficult to do that and it causes undue stress."Meanwhile, Paul Doherty welcomed two masts being erected on the Turf Lodge and Glen Road area, but said he's "pushing" for a mast on the Andersonstown Road to be reinstalled after it was set on fire in November 2024."There's been cases were someone's fallen at home, a person has suffered a health emergency and they could not call for help.""Imagine the fear; imagine the loneliness."


BBC News
19 hours ago
- BBC News
Liberia Capitol fire: Ex-speaker Jonathan Fonati Koffa charged with arson
Liberia's former speaker of parliament has been charged with arson over a fire at the nation's House of Representatives, local police have huge blaze broke out last December, a day after plans to remove Jonathan Fonati Koffa from his role as speaker sparked protests in the capital, had been locked in a stand-off with his political opponents, with dozens of lawmakers voting for his impeachment in October over accusations of poor governance, corruption and conflicts of said on Friday that there were "credible links" to suggest Koffa was "strategically involved" in the incident. Five other lawmakers have also been detained in connection to the has previously denied any connection to the fire breaking out. Police chief Gregory Colman said Koffa had been charged with a string of offences including arson, criminal mischief, endangering other people, and attempted said Koffa had used his office and staff "to co-ordinate sabotage efforts from as early as November 2023", according to news agency and several other lawmakers were summoned to the Liberian National Police headquarters on Friday as "persons of interest" in the case, local media reports. The former speaker and three sitting members of the House of Representatives were then remanded to Monrovia Central Prison on Saturday, newspaper FrontPage Africa reported. The blaze on 18 December 2024 destroyed the entire joint chambers of the West African nation's legislature. No one was inside the building at the day before had seen tense protests over the plans to remove Koffa, with demonstrators including an aide to former President George Weah individuals, including Koffa and Representative Frank Saah Foko, were brought in for questioning by a prominent figure in the House of Representatives, allegedly uploaded a video to Facebook in which he said: "If they want us to burn the chambers, we will burn it."A team of independent US investigators brought in to assist the investigation concluded that the fire was set House of Representatives has been beset by a long-running power the bid to impeach Koffa fell short of the two-thirds majority required, the group of 47 lawmakers who had voted for the move unilaterally appointed their own month, Koffa resigned as speaker after months of political deadlock.