Tullamore Christmas lights saved thanks to generous donations

THANKS to generous donations by businesses and individuals Tullamore will have Christmas lights as usual this festive season.

At a meeting held in the Bridge House on Tuesday night last it was decided to go ahead with the lights.

“Business, retailers and ordinary people have rallied around and donated to the lights,” said Noel McCann a spokesperson for the lights committee.

“People are beginning to wake up,” he added.

A bucket collection for the lights will also take place at the Huca Spooka event in the town park at Halloween.

A decision on the future of the lights in coming years will be made by the committee at a meeting in January of next year.

Earlier this month Noel McCann issued a warning that “as it now stands there will be no lights in Tullamore this year.”

Mr McCann said problems caused by Covid and the ongoing energy and cost of living crises literally meant there was no money in the coffers.

Tullamore's Christmas lights are among the most impressive in the Midlands with the committee having purchased a large number of new lights last year.

It is said that the Christmas season only truly commences in the Offaly county town when the lights are officially switched on at the end of November.

In the past a Christmas market also took place in conjunction with the lights switch-on and thousands of people, many of them young children, thronged the streets for the spectacular occasion.

Santa Claus arrives from Tullamore railway station in a sleigh while local musicians entertain the crowds from a platform erected on one of the town's main thoroughfares.

A local celebrity is usually tasked with performing the official switch-on.

The lights costs tens of thousands of euro each year to erect and maintain and most of this is raised through sponsorship while Offaly County Council also provides financial support.

A small number of people are involved in the hard-work of fundraising with the Christmas lights committee which is associated with Tullamore and District Chamber of Commerce.