People in this Mayo town are accidentally being bombarded with calls to adult chatlines

Michael Ring has written to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) and the Commission of Communications Regulation (Comreg) in an effort to intervene.

Residents of the town of Westport in Mayo are “aggravated and annoyed” at being bombarded by phone calls intended for adult chatlines in the United Kingdom. According to The Sunday Independent, residents of the town have communicated their concerns to Regional Development Minister Michael Ring after a number of them received phone calls, predominantly late at night, from men who assumed they were calling adult chat lines in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Independent reports that Westport residents have been receiving the calls because of the similarities between landline phone numbers in Westport and those used by the adult chatline operators. The problem arises when Irish users of the chatline have been neglecting to add the international dial code, at which point they have been through to houses in the picturesque Mayo town. Having received complaints from residents of the town, Regional Development Minister Michael Ring, a Westport native himself, has written to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) and the Commission of Communications Regulation (Comreg) in an effort to put a stop to it. Speaking to the publication, Ring said:

"They are getting these calls in the middle of night. "One of those people has an elderly mother and family members all over the world and there could be a call at any time that they would have to take".

Ring said that Gardaí in the area “did everything they could” to try and sort out the problem, but was less impressed with the lack of response from Communications Minister Denis Naughten. He added:

"The minister's office didn't have the manners to answer me. Irish citizens have to be protected by Irish government.

While the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) have said that the problem is “not within our remit” and Ring said that he has not received a satisfactory response from Comreg, he has spoken to Phone-Paid Services Authority in the UK, who are examining the issue.