The streets of Athlone will soon be aglow with festive lighting upon the sourcing of a contractor to erect the Christmas illuminations, Westmeath County Council Cathaoirleach, Cllr Frankie Keena, has confirmed.
“I am glad to say that the pressure in sourcing a contractor to erect Athlone’s Christmas lights for 2021 has been resolved.
“The onus on erecting the town’s Christmas lights lies with the Athlone Festival Infrastructure group of which I am a member. This group sourced LEADER funding a number of years ago to purchase a complete suite of new festive LED lights, timber market cabins and a vast range of bunting and banners to enhance the town. So, while our group owns all the infrastructure, we are still dependent on the Municipal District to provide us with the budget to have them erected.
“This particular year was very challenging to source a competent contractor to erect all the festive street lighting including the two fabulous 30 foot Christmas trees and in this regard I wish to sincerely express my gratitude to the chairman of our group Shay Hamilton who has worked tirelessly over the last six weeks to find a contractor. Shay was ably assisted by our treasurer Damien Delaney during this process.
“Thanks to their hard work and the gracious support of Jackie Finney and Pat Nally within the Municipal District, we have now sourced a contractor and Athlone’s Christmas Lights are presently being erected,” Cllr Keena asserted.
The switching on of the Christmas lights in Athlone will take place on Sunday, December 5.
