No northern lights on Athlone town bridge due to 'jammed' cable

By Rebekah O'Reilly

The lack of lighting on the northern side of Athlone's town bridge has been addressed at a recent council meeting.

The discussion arose during an update about Athlone Castle and the Public Realm, in which Cllr Aengus O'Rourke noted that the town bridge was "poorly lit" due to a problem with the lanterns.

Executive Engineer, Neil Egerton, said the cabling serving the bridge was "very old and poor".

"We endeavored in 2024 to replace both the southern and northern cabling. We did the south side, but in the north, the cable was jammed. It wasn't going to last very long."

He added that new ducting was required on the northern side, which has received approval.

"It's very specialist. The cables are not fit to transfer power anymore. The works will be carried out at night time, and traffic will be down to one lane."

Responding to a question by Cllr Frankie Keena about the possibility for aesthetic lighting on the town bridge, District Engineer, Willie Ryan, said the new ducting would make this a possibility on the northern side.

"We hope it will go a long way towards future lighting," he added.