Former Mayor Of Ennis Proposes Upskilling Drive To Tackle Estate Blackouts

A former Mayor of Ennis has proposed a major upskilling drive, as a means of expediting streetlight repairs in housing estates. It comes as a number of estates across the county have been left in darkness in recent months, due to delays in repairs to lights carried out by the ESB and Safe Electric. Renewed concerns have been raised as many housing estates in Clare are still experiencing lighting blackouts with fears abounding that the issues will persist well into the dark winter months. In response to a recent motion raised at this month's meeting of Clare County Council by Ennis Councillor Mary Howard, the local authority attributed the blackouts to delays in concluding repairs owning to staff shortages within the ESB and Safe Electric. It's also been noted that the public lighting network in this county is between 40 and 50 years old and as a result, potential legacy safety issues have to be addressed creating further delays. With the likelihood increasing of some estates in Clare being plunged into darkness over the next few months, Shannon Independent Councillor Gerry Flynn argues these works should've been carried out in advance of the end of summer. The ESB and Safe Electric have stressed that only their certified staff are equipped to carry out lighting and cabling repairs of this nature. However, Fine Gael Councillor Mary Howard believes an upskilling programme could be implemented to enable trained electrical workers to assist with repairs.