PARTS of West Cork are literally in the dark as broken public lights are not being fixed fast enough, with 31 public lights broken in the Beara area alone, while several are out of action in Ballydehob for the past few months, a meeting of the local authority heard this week.

The issue of public street lighting, or the lack of it in some areas of the county, was raised by Cllr Aileen Browne (FG) who sought an update on the total number of existing public lights and newly installed public lights across the county, which are awaiting commissioning by ESB Networks for more than 70 days.

Several councillors gave examples of public lights not working  in their municipal districts with some giving examples of housing estates in the dark.

Cllr Daniel Sexton (Ind Ire) said there are issues in Clonakilty where estates which haven’t been taking in charge cannot get public lighting connect even when there is power there.

Cllr Caroline Cronin (FG) pointed out that 31 lights are not working in the Beara area while several are out in Ballydehob for a number of months, while Cllr John Collins (Ind Ire) highlighted an estate in Bandon which is ‘left in the dark’ as three lights are not working.

Cllr Ian Doyle (FF) said towns across the county are now darker as the new LED lights being used shine down rather than down.

Divisional Manager Niall Healy said there was a change of providers in the summer of last year and that Electric Skyline inherited a backlog initially from the previous contractor but have caught up with the maintenance of public lights.

‘Since the commencement of the contract in June 2024, the public lighting contractor has completed 565 tickets related to  ESBN (ESB Networks) requests, with 209 completed since April.’

He said the Council meet with ESB Networks every number of months and have been always highlighting issues with them which are health and safety issues to the public.

‘They are telling us that they are under increased pressure at the moment with connecting solar farms, wind farms and electric cars to the grid. There has been a massive spike in their workload and they are finding it hard to recruit technicians,’ said Mr Healy.

He said that Cork County Council meet with Electric Skyline every month and added that people will see improved performances but that the challenge is with ESB Networks.