Laois town's Christmas lights going one one by one due with explanation given

A Laois town's Christmas streetlights are going out one by one, with a major fundraiser needed, the committee has confirmed.

Mountmellick Christmas Streetlights festoon the town in multicoloured bulbs and a big display at the Community Arts Centre.

However the small committee of three have announced the reason why some bulbs are not working.

"Some of you may have noticed areas where it looks like bulbs have blown. In reality, the issue is with damaged sockets rather than the bulbs themselves.

"The lighting system runs on approximately 1.9km of cable through the town, and much of it has simply reached the end of its life. We have applied for funding to purchase new festoon cable for the entire town," say the committee of Maura Reddin, Ena Doody and Rosemary Whelan.

They estimate the total needed for replacing the cable before Christmas 2026 to be at €5,000.

"The total cost is estimated at €20,000, and while the grant covers 75%, we will still need to raise the remaining amount. We may have to beg, borrow and steal to bridge the gap — but we know that with this community’s spirit, we can make it happen.

For the past few years they have spent significant money on new coloured bulbs and have incorporated green, red , blue, yellow and white bulbs into their strings of lights.

"The coloured bulbs are more expensive than the white bulbs but the colours we have outnumber white bulbs. We try to incorporate as much colour as possible to bring much needed cheer and light to the town," the committee say.

As part of the fundraising as well as a heartwarming community memorial, they also erect a lovely Christmas tree at the door of St Joseph's church, covered in ribbons each handwritten with the names of loved ones.

The Mountmellick Christmas Streetlights committee of Maura, Rosemary and Ena with volunteer supporters at the tree of remembrance.

The community pay €5 for each ribbon, as a way to pay for the Christmas streetlights.

It has again been erected for Christmas 2025.

"Firstly, a huge thank you to everyone who has donated and purchased memory ribbons — your support truly keeps this project going and we appreciate it more than words can say.

Thank you again for your kindness, generosity, and unwavering support," the women say.

They had recently published their accounts for 2024, which show that their total bill ran to €8,406.69 which was met by fundraising with a couple of hundreds euros to spare.

The committee say they will consider starting a GoFundMe account in the new year, depending on the level of donations they receive this Christmas.

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Outgoings for 2024 included an ESB bill of €3,600, while new bulbs, fittings, battery lights and maintenance cost over €4,000. Insurance added €454 to the bill.

Their income came from €1,190 for memory tree ribbons, €2,635 in donations, €2,325 in business sponsorship, and nearly €2,500 in public collections.

The committee's work does not include Mountmellick's Christmas tree and crib, which has a separate group of volunteers. See Photos from the tree light up night this year by a special local boy and his mam.