Westport 'ill feeling' over €50k funding of Christmas lights

The Christmas lights in Westport brought pleasure to people near and far, but they also came with a serious price and funding is required to keep them going every year, according to the Cathaoirleach of Westport-Belmullet Municipal District, Cllr Peter Flynn.

Representatives from Westport Chamber of Commerce addressed last week's municipal meeting about the issue.

Chamber of Commerce President Dermott Langan outlined that in 2024 the organisation had reluctantly got involved with keeping the Christmas lights in Westport going “because they were too important to lose”. Thanking local councillors for an annual pledge of approximately €18,000 in funding, he said the total bill amounts to €50,000 each year, between paying for an electrician and the installation, lighting and maintenance costs involved.

“This is not just a Westport issue as the lights benefit the whole area. When Westport thrives the wider county benefits, with visitors travelling and dining and exploring the surrounding area. The lights for Christmas 2025 looked magical and that is not just our opinion as there was also one million views of them on social media, and that exposure can’t be bought. 

"It was added to by local businesspeople who enhanced and decorated their premises and all of this is important to residents and families who came in droves on the wettest night of the year to see the lights being switched on. This annual display is very emotive and means so much to local people and is a source of pride and joy if done correctly.” 

Mr Langan added the caveat that Westport Chamber can no longer continue with the current funding model, which requires it to reach out again and again to businesses to fund the annual lighting display while securing a contractor willing to oversee the electricity works is always difficult. He noted that many people believed the council was responsible for putting up the lights up and that rates income and ringfenced funding should cover the costs, but this was not the case.

He stated that a total of €50,150 was pledged by supporting businesses, including the €18,000 contribution from local councillors in 2025.

CEO of Westport Chamber Geraldine Horkan said the whole process around organising the Christmas lights is extremely labour intensive and while she welcomed the generosity of many businesses, there was opposition too. 

“There is a lot of ill feeling because people are paying huge commercial rates and feel they are not getting anything for it. We are too small an organisation to manage this and we need your support and ideas and a community push to move this forward.” 

Director of Services Joanne Grehan thanked all the businesses that contributed to funding the Christmas lights, acknowledging that getting them in place each year was “a hard plough”. It was agreed a workshop will be arranged to try and resolve the issue.

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.