Public information event on lighthouse beam plans

Public information event on lighthouse beam plans

13 November 2024

A CONTROVERSIAL plan to downgrade the iconic sweeping beam at St John’s Point lighthouse and fit a low energy LED bulb is to be outlined at a public information event next week.

The Dublin-based Commissioner of Irish Lights (CIL) is preparing to lodge a formal bid to secure listed building consent to reduce the scale of the beam and replace a mercury bath on which the giant Fresnel lamp rotates with a rotating ball bearing mechanism.

Newcastle’s Burrendale Hotel is the venue for next Wednesday’s appointment-only event between 3.30pm and 7.30pm with CIL insisting its proposal is primarily aimed at improving the reliable and safe operation of the lighthouse. 

It says while making these operational improvements, the project will also improve and protect the condition of the lighthouse which is a listed building. 

However, the proposal is being vehemently opposed by the Lecale Lightkeepers campaign group

which wants the beam, historic Fresnel lens and rotating mechanism retained and utilised as an important element of living history.

Campaigners say any attempt to replace the rotating beam with what they claim is a less effective LED light must be revisited, while CIL wants replace the current light source which it claims is nearing end of its life.

Previously, the organisation has insisted the existing 1000W high energy lamp will soon become unavailable due to energy efficiency regulation changes which will make it impossible to source.

CIL said while the existing light will be replaced with an LED, the Fresnel optic will be retained, with the new light ensuring the ongoing safe and reliable operation of this aid to navigation.

Campaigners have appealed to Newry, Mourne and Down Council — which unanimously agreed five years ago that the beam should remain in place — not to renege on its support for the battle to protect the historic light in its present mechanism, arguing that fitting LEDs at other lighthouses has not been successful.

CIL claims the mercury bath at the Killough lighthouse poses a health risk have been dismissed as a “red herring” by the Lecale Lightkeepers who hope the local council’s Planning Committee will refuse the application for listed building consent which they insist is designed to pave the way for a “material change” at the lighthouse.

Support

“We want the council to double down on its support for retaining the beam and not back away from it,” said a campaign group spokeswoman.

She said while CIL is now proposing to retain the historic glass Fresnel lens, it plans to remove its  equally historic Bourdelles rotation system because of its “unjustified claim about the toxic danger of mercury in this equipment”.

Campaigners say the current light produces an iconic and characteristic “loom” or halo around the beam, which enables it to be seen over the horizon which is not readily seen with an LED which has a shorter range.

The spokeswoman said campaigners have been made aware of meetings between CIL and local politicians to discuss the St John’s Point proposal and claimed a “covert relationship” was developing.

“We submitted a FOI request to the council in May for information on communications between council officials and CIL and were subsequently told information was being withheld in the public interest, she said.

“It is also our understanding that a pre-application discussion took place last week between CIL and local authority representatives. The council has already agreed to protect the beam in its present mechanism for present and future generations and this must be respected.”

The spokeswoman said the intrinsic character of the lighthouse is its historic sweeping beam which meets the required standard and must not be altered, nor diminished.

“We understand there has been significant interaction between CIL and the council when future possibilities for the historic lighthouse to be developed as a tourist venue. 

“The people of Killough, fishermen and coastal communities have been excluded from these discussions yet they have the most to lose if CIL secures planning permission to change the light.”

The spokeswoman said while campaigners understand the need to modernise, they draw the line at the destruction of the sweeping beam that the Killough lighthouse produces.

She described the lens and rotation equipment as “masterpieces of Victorian optical and mechanical engineering.”

The spokeswoman added: “There is a need to preserve as much of the original remaining lighting equipment at St John’s Point as possible, especially as it is still highly efficient, economic and produces a famous, magnificent sweeping beam in the tallest lighthouse on mainland Ireland.”