Concerns that new LED street lights are leaving areas 'pitch dark' in Dundalk

Councillors have raised concerns that new LED street lights across Dundalk have left some areas in darkness. 

Sinn Féin councillor Fiona Mhic Conchoille told the March meeting of the Dundalk Municipal District that she has received a number of complaints since the replacement of older sodium blubs to a newer LED equivalent.

She said the new LED bulbs were are having "no effect" and said there is no quality or peripheral light.  

Cllr Mhic Conchoille said residents also reported a "grey light" and said some areas "may as well not even have a street light on".

She also said others have said the new lights are too bright.

"In one area the bulb seems to be away inside the case so the light just goes down and there’s no peripheral light at all I don’t know what can be done." 

"I know in other areas that they’re that bright that birds are singing in the middle of the night, its upset the whole system," she said. 

The Sinn Féin councillor questioned if Louth County Council would assess the quality of the new bulbs that are put in. 

Independent councillor Ciarán Fisher also raised concerns about the new street lights saying they don't seem to be "doing the business". 

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"Sometimes when an older bulb is replaced with a newer one, say two in a row, you get this dark patch between the two of them, it's immensely bright underneath the light but the halfway point which was previously lit by the older bulbs will be pitch dark.

It's something to look at if we are replacing bulbs and the light is not travelling far enough we might have to look at a redesign," he said. 

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.