THE “dangerous” lack of lighting at a crossroads in Kilmaley was highlighted at this week’s Ennis Municipal District meeting.
Councillor Tom McNamara raised the matter in a motion and was told that the council does not have a community lighting scheme in place and has no means of funding the works.
Councillor McNamara told the meeting that recent night-time funerals in Kilmaley had brought home the danger to the public in the area, where the two local roads meet the Ennis to Miltown Malbay road at Kilmaley.
He said, in the past few months, since a funeral home opened there, it has been become obvious how dangerous the cross is.
“In the interest of public safety, something will have to be done. In November and December, there were two night funerals and people couldn’t cross the road. The footpaths on the far side of the road are in an awful condition,” Councillor McNamara stated, adding, “I got more complaints about the state of the place and no way of seeing anything”.
He said a contribution had been made by the developer towards the local infrastructure when the funeral home was built and the least the council could do is to have the area lighted and in a good condition when people are paying their respects at the funeral home.
“There has to be a way of improving the lighting in the area and it should be done as a matter of urgency,” the Kilmaley councillor said.
Councillor James Breen said he had noticed a big increase in traffic in the area and asked for some solution to the problem, possibly through a partnership approach.
Councillor Pat Daly said it is a serious health and safety issue and he himself had been at a funeral there recently as darkness fell. “There were hundreds of people there and they were all giving out that they couldn’t see where they were walking,” he said, adding, “Whatever we have to do, we have to get a light or a pole in there. It’s deadly dangerous”.
Councillor Paul Murphy supported the call, while Councillor Mary Howard said she also had received many complaints about the area.
Senior executive engineer, Eamon O’Dea, said the council will look at how it can be funded if at all possible.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.