March 8, 2017
Ireland

‘My three-year-old daughter is scared… We need you to help’

Wicklow People | 8 March 2017

Everything that was normal in Colleen Clune’s life is gone since the Raheenleagh Wind Farm powered into life.

The Wexford native, who is married to Eugene, told the elected members last Monday that she ‘fell in love with Ballinvalley Upper’ but that their lives have been turned upside down by the turbines.

The working mum, who has a three-year-old and a second child due in May, said she is not subjected to the wind farm during the day as she works five days a week.

‘But on my way home, when I get to the Kilcavan Gap, I can see the windmills in front of me. When I turn up my lane, I’m directly in front of T5,’ she said.

‘They have consumed our lives’

She said that the noise disturbance created by the turbines causes her family physical and mental distress.

‘I pray to God we’ll sleep the night,’ she said, explaining that the family hadn’t had a proper night’s sleep since the wind farm went live in September, apart from one week in October when it was off for a week. ‘We all slept soundly,’ she said.

Her daughter is particularly affected at night-time, and asks what the noises are in her room or ‘why is grandad on the tractor?’

‘She’s scared,’ said Mrs Clune.

She said the noise was like ‘a plane on a runway that never takes off’ or the sea constantly smashing against the rocks.

The family are also affected by light flicker, which she described as ‘like a welder flashing for 20 or 30 minutes at a time’.

Where once they had a lovely view, Mrs Clune said she now looks out the window at ‘five pillars of steel’.

Regarding the viewing points created at turbine one and five, the latter is a huge concern for the Clunes. ‘The viewing point at T5 is looking straight down on our farm. We’re on view to people we don’t know,’ said Mrs Clune.

‘We need you to help us.’

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2017/03/08/my-three-year-old-daughter-is-scared-we-need-you-to-help/