Council's upgrade of public lighting in Mayo is 'on target'

An ongoing programme to convert 18,000 public lights in Mayo from traditional high-energy sodium to Light-Emitting Diode (LED) has resulted in the equivalent of 200 cars being taken off the road.

In a presentation to Mayo County Council's Roads and Sustainable Travel Strategic Policy Committee (SPC), the council's senior engineer Peter McLoughlin explained that all local authorities are upgrading to LED lighting.

Mr McLoughlin said there are over 480,000 public lights across Ireland which cost more than €56 million to operate each year and account for approximately 40% of all the energy consumed by local authorities. Of these, 18,000 are in Mayo, the majority of which are unmetered and mostly on ESB networks, as opposed to council infrastructure. Over 80% of Mayo’s old lights have been taken over by the council and converted to LED, with the remaining lantern conversions expected to be complete by December 2027 – well in advance of the council’s target of converting all public lighting to low-energy LED lighting by 2029. The works are being carried out by Electric Skyline.

While total expenditure amounts to a hefty €3.5 million to date, another €1.8m remains in the budget to be spent, bringing the overall cost of the programme, which is funded by the council with support from Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the government’s Climate Action Fund, to €5.7m. The senior engineer pointed out that the reduction in energy consumption and wattage is equivalent to 200 cars being taken off the road, while in 2025 alone, over 500 tonnes of CO2, one million kilowatt hours of energy, and €220,000 in energy costs, were saved. The bulbs themselves have a lifespan of up to 20 years.

The presentation was warmly welcomed by forum members, with SPC chairperson Cllr Annie May Reape extending high praise to Electric Skyline.

Christy Hyland said he knew a number of housing estates where people were delighted with the new LED lighting, which added an element of safety. He asked for policy to coordinate LED lighting with CCTV street cameras in Westport, so that dark areas of town would be clearly lit, and also at pedestrian crossings, where pedestrians might not be seen at night.

Cllr Richard Finn also complimented Electric Skyline but complained that the Government is not providing sufficient funding, saying: “The council is flat out finding money to implement government policy but the little amount of funding we have got is unfair.” 

Cllr Finn pointed to the lack of public lighting on the new link road in Claremorris and said several housing estates were left without lighting for years.

"This is a serious health and safety issue, and I think public lighting should be treated as an emergency in all estates.” 

Mr McLoughlin assured the forum that all public lighting in Mayo will be converted to the LED system as quickly as possible.

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.