1,000 street lights to be installed in Cork with many purple-blue lights to be replaced

Cork will soon lose many of the eerie, purple-blue lights that have popped up in estates across the city, Cork City Council has said.

The council is partnering with a private firm to install more than 1,000 street lights in 40 sites across the northside and southside, with the upgrades to include the replacement of lighting columns and lanterns, and enhancement of the underground infrastructure.

The works are part of a €14m deal reached between the council and private contractor Electric Skyline to deliver the first phase of the city’s new public lighting strategy, reducing the city’s carbon emissions by installing modern, energy-efficient LED lighting.

Among the street lights to be replaced are the ghostly purple lights in many parts of the city, especially on the northside.

The council has been replacing its old sodium street lights, which have a distinctive orange glow, with modern LED (light-emitting diode) lamps, which normally give out a clear white light. However, that white light is achieved by covering the LEDs — which actually emit a purple colour — with a coating of yellow phosphor.

In some of the LED lamps, purchased at the end of the last decade, that coating of yellow phosphor has faded, causing the light to return to its natural purple, and explaining the city’s ghost lights.

A council spokesperson told The Echo that the lights — which are referred to as ‘blue lanterns’ — are currently being addressed by Electric Skyline.

“Any purple lights within the initial 40 sites will be replaced. A separate purple-light-replacement programme is also being undertaken for those outside of the scope of phase one of the LED replacement programme.

“There are 145 active blue-lantern faults, [and] 203 blue-light faulty lanterns have been replaced to date,” they said.

The council is responsible for the city’s 25,500 public street lights, which it intends to renew as part of its 10-year plan, including its ongoing LED installation and the replacement of 11,500 lighting columns in housing estates, and on primary and secondary public roads.

Electric Skyline’s contract is to deliver phase one of the council’s Public Lighting Strategy 2021-2030, which will see 1,000 lighting columns replaced in two years.

The aim of the LED upgrade programme is to provide consistent public lighting design, maximise energy savings, reduce CO2 emissions, and enhance efficiency across the network by replacing traditional sodium lamp lanterns with more energy-efficient LED lanterns.

James Kenneally, executive engineer with Cork City Council, said the energy saved through its LED lantern upgrade programme had been achieved through a close working relationship between the council’s public lighting team and Electric Skyline.

“Cork City Council hopes to continue this good work through their 10-year public-lighting-column refurbishment project, which commenced last year,” he said.

“This project will be a generational project that will future-proof the public lighting network in Cork city for many years to come.”