Street lights in this Kildare town 'back in action' following crash, says senator

Fianna Fáil Senator Fiona O’Loughlin has confirmed that street lights in Rathangan, Co Kildare are “back in action” following repairs carried out after a pre-Christmas crash in which a car struck an electricity pole.

Speaking following the completion of the repairs, Senator O’Loughlin said many residents had been extremely concerned about safety issues caused by the town being left in darkness.

“I know many residents of Rathangan were extremely concerned about the threat to safety caused by the town being left in darkness following the crash,” she said.

“I had numerous residents rightly reach out to me expressing their concerns and I have been engaging with Kildare County Council and the ESB to get the lights back up and running.”

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Senator O'Loughlin said it was “unacceptable” that residents had to rely on the glow of Christmas lights to safely navigate the streets.

“Residents relying on the glow of Christmas lights to see through the streets was simply unacceptable.”

The Senator stated that the incident highlights the need to explore backup generators and provisional emergency measures for towns across Kildare to ensure street lighting is not left in a vulnerable position.

“From my understanding a car struck an electricity pole which caused the outage,” she said.

“It should not be the case that such an isolated incident can cause such havoc and leave a town in darkness for days.”

She added that she will continue to engage with the council and the ESB to ensure follow up action is taken.

“I will be engaging with the council and the ESB to ensure there is a follow up so that other towns across Kildare are not left in as vulnerable a position as this.”