TWO West Cork towns accounted for 1,300 public lighting faults reported to the local authority in 2025, with 20 of these taking more than 100 days to fix, a council meeting has heard.

The state of public lighting was discussed at the West Cork Municipal District Council where members were told that the total number of current faults across the county stands at 399.

Figures for Skibbereen were furnished showing that there were 826 fault reports made from a total of 3,767 lanterns, and four took longer than 100 days to rectify.

Statistics for Bantry showed of the 474 faults reported in 2025 regarding its 2,383-light system, 16 of them took more than 100 days to resolve.

Liam Casey, executive engineer in Cork County Council’s public lighting operations team, said the council has around 35,000 lanterns under maintenance across the county, using various types of lights including LEDs, Sons and Sox.

He said some of the most common maintenance issues were lamp replacement, photocell or fuse issues, along with cable faults or complete lantern and column replacements.

The council’s public lights are maintained by contractor Electric Skyline, who have a contractual requirement to have 98.5% of the lights in operation, the meeting heard.

In relation to West Cork, the council’s engineer gave insights into lighting in Bantry and Skibbereen.

According to Mr Casey, Bantry has 2.383 lanterns and saw 474 fault reports in 2025, 16 of which took longer than 100 days to resolve.

In Skibbereen, there are 3.767 lanterns and there were 826 fault reports made in 2025, with four taking longer than 100 days to fix.

The total number of current faults in the county are at 399, Mr Casey said.

During his presentation, he pointed out that a new maintenance contract had gone out to tender, expected to start at the end of June.

This year 81.3% of lights will have been replaced with LED lights and further replacements carried throughout the year.

The annual maintenance budget was around €800.000, Mr Casey said.

Councillors thanked Mr Casey for the insightful presentation and pointed out a number of faulty lights, including in Clonakilty, Shannonvale and Bantry.

FG Cllr Caroline Cronin mentioned a lighting pole that was interfering with a pedestrian crossing.

‘Until the pole is shifted the crossing won’t go ahead,’ Cllr Cronin said.

Cllr Finbarr Harrington (Ind) said the lighting on slipways and piers especially had been well looked after.

‘To be fair to Electric Skyline, they have improved enormously and seem to have gotten on top of the backlog,’ he said.   

You can report a public light fault on the council’s website, phone 1800 150 150 or email [email protected].