ESBN's temporary fix to resolve lighting issue failed, Kildare County Council engineer reveals

The Electricity Supply Board Network's temporary fix to resolve a lighting issue in County Kildare failed, according to an engineer affiliated with Kildare County Council (KCC).

News of the failure was passed along to councillors at the latest Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District meeting, which took place on Wednesday, September 17 last, by senior engineer for KCC Donal Hodgins.

The subject was raised following the submission of a motion by the Mayor of the Municipal District, Fianna Fail Cllr Noel Heavey, who motioned for KCC to communicate "to the responsible authority, the unacceptable timeline for repair / replacement of public lighting on roads and housing estates around Roseberry, Newbridge with a view to having this matter rectified within a month".

His motion was supported by Fine Gael Cllr Peggy O'Dwyer.

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In response to Mayor Heavey's motion, KCC said via the report it submitted at the meeting: "If the members are agreeable, KCC will write to the Electricity Supply Board Networks [ESBN, a subsidiary of the ESB] with regard to this matter."

KCC added: "However, it should be noted that extensive discussions are continuing to take place between the council, our maintenance contractor and ESBN regarding the necessary works to ensure the fault is repaired."

Mayor Heavey replied that he welcomed the report from KCC, while Cllr O'Dwyer told KCC that the lights in Roseberry "came back for four nights" before suddenly shutting off again.

"It's not good enough," she said. "We need a strong letter [to be sent to the ESBN]."

Referencing her comments about the lights briefly coming back on in Roseberry, Mr Hodgins informed the councillors that the ESBN "made a temporary fix, which did not work".

It was then agreed upon by the councillors to have KCC send a letter to the ESBN regarding the current lighting issues in Roseberry.

The Mayor of the Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District, Fianna Fail Cllr Noel Heavey. Photograph by Martin Connelly

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