Tarbert in County Kerry is home to an ESB power station but the town is being left in the dark because of poor street lighting.
There’s no danger of Tarbert coming to be known as the brightest spot in Ireland
Tarbert is poorly served by County Council street lights, nine of them, to be precise. The only other lights are those provided by local business owners. When darkness falls, one resident has to use a torch to see where she is going. Tarbert also has Ireland’s largest ESB power station, the irony of which is not lost on the local community.
In comparison, the new estate, built for ESB employees, has modern and adequate lighting.
This is not the ESB’s fault. Power, so to speak, rests with Kerry County Council.
On the day of filming, Kerry County Council informed Tarbert Development Association that new lights would be installed by next June. Welcome news, but village residents feel that this work could have been carried out sooner, according to association member Daire O’Connor,
Only for the business people in the town, who have signs up, we would have very little public lighting...as Kerry rate payers, we feel we are entitled to a slice of the cake.
This episode of 'Newsround' was broadcast on 20 February 1977. The reporter is Brendan O'Brien.
