A huge proportion of the underground cabling for Galway city’s streetlighting is unsafe and must be replaced after the unprecedented damage of Storm Éowyn exposed it.
Galway City Council officials this week revealed to councillors that repairing the city’s storm-damaged network of uninsured electricity cables is impossible, as ESB will not allow access, never mind certify repairs, on pre-1995 cabling which does not meet current safety standards.
Instead, kilometres of electric cables linking 1,100 lights on older circuits must be dug-up and physically replaced, with an estimated bill of €10m – plus VAT - looming for the already cash-strapped local authority.
At least five housing estates and neighbourhoods across the city are still without public street lighting four months after the catastrophic storm. Éowyn damaged 300 street lights in Galway, destroying 100, including wrenching many from their foundations, and exposing dangerous, two-core live cables which are not properly earthed to modern standards.
Parts of Ballyloughane Road, Inchagill Road, the Browne Roundabout, streets in Ballybane, Knocknacarra and Beechcourt in Salthill remain without public lighting, leading to road safety concerns for pedestrians and vulnerable residents, especially when parked cars in residential areas clutter the streetscape.
Director of Services, Patrick Greene, told councillors that these remaining neighbourhoods without lighting need immediate upgrades to modern, three-core cabling, with emergency works expected to cost around €1.2m. Specialist contractors are required.
“I can’t force anyone to fix something that’s illegal and possibly dangerous,” he told councillors, explaining that difficulty in earthing older lighting circuits means council staff are not insured if they attempt running repairs to get the lights back on.
“We often don’t know what’s buried underground in some of these older estates, and what we might hit,” he said, indicating that costs could easily soar.
Councillor John McDonagh (Lab ) raised concerns about insurance cover for underground cabling.
“The reality is, much of the network is simply too old, substandard by today’s measures, and too risky for insurers. These are public safety assets, and we’re treating them like second-tier responsibilities,” he said, noting that when the ESB handed over public lighting responsibilities to the local authority in 2009, there was no provision made for managing legacy systems, including insurance.
Councillor Mike Crowe (FF ) urged officials to “up the ante” in their requests for funding from central government, while Councillor Declan McDonnell (Ind ) suggested specific storm repair levies for Galway until a loan can be secured.
“We don’t have an answer on how we’re going to fund this, and there has been no indication yet from the Department [of Local Government] if it will,” the city’s chief finance officer, Helen Kilroy, told councillors. “We may have to search our own budget to fund this,” she warned.
It costs Galway City Council almost €140m annually to provide the city with essential services, so a lighting infrastructure bill estimated at €12m – almost nine per cent of one year’s expenditure – will blow a huge hole in the city’s finances, despite a commercial rates rise and small Local Property Tax increase rancorously agreed by councillors last autumn.
City officials predicted last month, that Storm Éowyn's clean-up bill could reach €15m, and this figure does not include the €12m for replacing cabling citywide.
“This isn’t just a Galway issue - it’s a nationwide problem,” said McDongah. “Communities across Ireland are at risk of similar [lighting] failures. We need immediate funding, and a clear strategy from government. Residents cannot - and should not - be left in the dark.”
Engineers told councillors that the County and City Management Association (CCMA ) had unsuccessfully raised the issue of pre-1995 street light cabling with central government agencies over the years. Dublin, Cork, Limerick – but specifically Galway city – has a high proportion of two core cabling.
Officials were unable to specifically answer a question on lighting from Councillor Aisling Burke (SF ) at this week’s plenary meeting.
“If we have another storm like Éowyn, what is the plan if it rips up lighting and ducting we replace?” she asked. “It doesn’t seem like we have a plan here.”
“Ye just stay in the darkness, back west,” was Councillor Mike Cubbard’s (Ind ) sarcastic analysis of Government attitudes to Galway city's concerns.
