Clare councillors illuminated on county’s lighting situation

WHILE street lights around the Banner have not been replaced for long spells, the situation is about to improve, a meeting of Clare County Council was told.

In a motion to the meeting, Councillor Shane Talty asked if improvements can be made.

“Across the county, faulty street lights have been taking an unacceptable length of time to be repaired over the past number of months,” he noted.

“These lights are critical public infrastructure and when out of service cause a lot of stress and anxiety to the public. Can measures be put in place to reverse this trend and return to more acceptable repair turnaround times?”

He said that a light had been down in Liscannor since December 4, and another in Feakle since December 14. 

Councillor Cillian Murphy said that he runs frequently in Kilkee, and when he spoke to a female runner recently he found that her run was 3km shorter than his, because of the lack of public lighting in the area.

Councillor Clare Colleran Molloy said that providing adequate lighting is very important to foster a feeling of security among women. 

A written reply from Senior Engineer John Leahy said, “In recent months turnaround times for public lighting repairs have taken longer than normal. We have raised this issue with our public lighting maintenance contractor.

“Recently there have been supply issues in relation to public lighting component parts and also Covid-related issues.

“The contractor has assured us that the supply issue has been resolved and that they will increase staff numbers with a view to closing out the backlog in the next few weeks.”