Meeting told a number of pedestrian crossing lights in Laois out of action due to obsolete part

Pedestrian crossing lights at a Laois national school need to be repaired urgently in the interest of safety, a meeting was told. 

Fine Gael Cllr Vivienne Phelan and Independent Cllr Aisling Moran had a joint motion in relation to the lights at a  recent meeting. 

The asked: “That Laois County Council repair or replace the pedestrian lights at Killenard N.S in the  interest of road safety as they have been out since September 2024.”

Cllr Moran said she “it is as if they are going on off, on  off, on off, all day and then they fix them and it happens again” and she said a similar situation had developed in Killeen. She claimed it was “an accident waiting to happen” and insisted that “they need to be done as a matter of urgency.”

Cllr Phelan agreed and said the matter was particularly urgent as the school was there. “I can’t understand how it is going on so long,” she said. 

Independent Cllr Aidan Mullins said there was a part in the lights that was out-of-date and the lights and they need to be upgraded. “There are two other sets of lights out in Portarlington for the last number of months as well,” he said. He said there is a delay in getting the parts that were ordered from Italy. 

Independent Cllr Aisling Moran said the contract for public lighting in the county was coming up for tender. 

“We have had issues with them before and then they won the contract again,” she pointed out. 

Cllr Moran reminded the meeting that “the definition of insanity was doing the same thing again” and expecting different results. She said something has to be done. 

Cllr Mullins said the council do carry reviews of the performance of  its contractors.  

Independent Cllr Ben Brennan said the issue related to the fact that nobody else was tendering for the contract. 

Senior Executive Engineer, Philip McVeigh read the response from the Road Design Office. It stated that “Road Design have engaged the contractor to assess these Pedestrian Lights. They will be fixed and operational in the coming weeks.

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The motion, which was seconded by Fianna Fail Cllr Paschal McEvoy, was discussed during the latest meeting of Portarlington Graiguecullen Municipal District.