Council backs retention of lighthouse beam

Council backs retention of lighthouse beam

13 November 2019

NEWRY, Mourne and Down Council has this week reiterated its support for the campaign to retain the iconic sweeping beam at St John’s Point lighthouse near Killough.

The local authority agrees that the current mechanism — which rotates a huge Fresnel lens — must be retained and not replaced with a modern LED light.

The Commissioner of Irish Lights (CIL) insists that its planned changes at the Killough lighthouse are “minimal” and will not result in major changes to the iconic sweeping beam.

But the claim has been firmly rejected by local people including the Lecale Lightkeepers campaign group who say the beam’s range will be reduced by up to nine miles if the changes are allowed to proceed.

In addition to fitting a new LED light, Commissioners want to remove mercury from the lighthouse’s current rotating lens mechanism and replace it with a German-made alternative which has been trialled for the past two years.

CIL argues that the engineering works planned for St John’s Point will deliver a “better quality, environmentally superior solution which meets modern health and safety requirements.” 

They say they are simply removing mercury out of the rotating lens system and putting in a new “innovative mechanical bearing solution.”

Campaigners have consistently labelled the mercury concern as a “red herring” and are pleased the local authority shares their view of the need to retain the sweeping beam in its current form.

Several members of the campaign group, which aims to ensure that the lighthouse’s unique heritage remains, were given an opportunity to address Monday’s meeting of Newry, Mourne and Down Council’s Enterprise, Regeneration and Tourism Committee in Newry.

Cllr Roisin Mulgrew highlighted the importance of protecting the heritage of the lighthouse, while Cllrs Dermot Curran and Glyn Hanna spoke of the importance of the sweeping beam to local fishermen, arguing that the iconic light had helped save lives at sea.

Cllr Hanna also said that the sweeping beam was as important for people in Kilkeel and the Mournes as it was for those across Lecale.

Mournes councillor Willie Clarke proposed that the local council writes to CIL reaffirming its position in relation to the sweeping beam and the need to preserve the heritage of the lighthouse.

Also during Monday’s meeting, campaigners were told that they would be kept informed of any planning applications submitted by CIL in relation to the lighthouse.

Mr Hugh O’Donnell from the campaign group said CIL had originally planned to remove the present sweeping beam in its entirety and replace it with a number of fixed LED lamps attached in a fixed position on the balcony of the lighthouse, adversely affecting the nature of the light and its maritime reach.

Mr O’Donnell said that concerns about the toxicity of mercury used in the Bourdelles-Fresnel lens rotation system, which has been in operation since 1909, have been raised to “alarm the authorities, but has no basis in fact.” 

The Lecale Lightkeepers say there have been no incidents of death or EVEN toxicity illness amongst lighthouse keepers or their families or service workers since the apparatus installation in 1909.