A CLARE COUNCILLOR has said people living in rural areas should move to the town if they want to have street lights outside their home.
While requests from county councillors for improvements in areas are usually met with widespread support from their colleagues, Cllr Paul Murphy (FG) bucked the trend when going against Cllr Pat Daly’s (FF) proposal to install public lighting in Toonagh.
At the February meeting of the Ennis Municipal District, Cllr Daly asked that public lighting be installed on the Ennis side of Toonagh Stores “to accommodate approximately six houses that are completely in darkness at nighttime presently”.
Acting senior executive engineer in the Ennis MD, Paddy Tiernan outlined that they do not have a budget for new public lighting installations. “We have checked with our colleagues in the public lighting department who have advised they solely maintain responsibility for the maintenance of the existing public lighting network and do not possess a budget for new public lighting installations”.
Existing local conditions such as the presence of footpaths, population density and the existing speed limit are considered by the Ennis MD office when undertaking a cost-benefit analysis on such a request, Tiernan advised.
Applying such crtieria to Toonagh, he said, “given that the proposal is within a rural location with an 80kph speed limit and has an absence of pedestrian facilities and a localised speed limit, it is deemed that the installation of public lighting would not be appropriate at this current time. However, we will keep this project in mind should further funding opportunities present”.
Speaking at the Ennis MD meeting, Cllr Daly remarked, “half of Toonagh is under public lighting and half is not”. He said the installation of lighting “would give protection to these people” living in the houses by Toonagh Stores. “It is pitch dark at night in a lovely countryside village”.
Seconding the motion, Cllr Tom O’Callaghan (FF) referred to the funding constraints hindering the request and asked that Toonagh be kept in consideration.
Country life has to be protected, Cllr Paul Murphy (FG) insisted. “I appreciate the sentiment of the motion, at the same time as a rural dweller, I live in Barntick which is a cluster of houses, there is more than six houses there, do I want street lighting outside my home? Not in your high nelly, we have to be aware of wildlife and bat life, we can’t have street lights everywhere, if people want street lights right outside their home then move into town, the countryside is the countryside”.
Residents would be made feel “safer in their homes to have street lights outside them,” Cllr Mary Howard (FG) replied.
Responding to Cllr Murphy’s comments, Cllr Daly remarked, “these people are living in the village of Toonagh, you’re not living in the village of Clarecastle”. Cllr Murphy replied, “the six houses referred to are on the periphery of Toonagh and Toonagh is not a village, it is a hamlet, these are six houses on the outskirts”.
Daly then told Murphy, “go out and ask them where they are living and if it is a village” to which he responded, “we can’t be all things to all men”.
“Ye are very feisty today,” observed Cllr Howard as the debate drew to a close.
