THE campaign group battling to save the iconic sweeping beam at St John’s Point Lighthouse in Killough is to make a fresh bid to secure a meeting with local politicians.
The Lecale Lightkeepers want to meet with Newry, Mourne and Down councillors to spell out why the beam must be retained and why the proposed replacement suggested by the Dublin-based Commissioner of Irish Lights is totally inadequate and unacceptable.
Campaigners hope that in the wake of last week’s council elections, their request to address politicians will be accepted, given the seriousness of the issue.
Council officials are refusing to allow campaigners to meet directly with councillors, with the Lecale Lightkeepers at a loss to understand why. They hope councillors will overrule this decision and agree to meet with them to hear their views.
Local authority officials have previously insisted that officers from the the Commissioner of Irish Lights will be invited to future meetings of the district’s respective DEA Forums to discuss the future of the lighthouse.
The local authority says this is to ensure that information can be shared and that local stakeholders and communities are fully consulted upon any proposals for the lighthouse in the immediate future before any plans are finalised.
However, campaigners say they are at a complete loss to understand why they are being refused an opportunity to meet directly with councillors given that the local authority has already given its unanimous backing to a motion calling for the beam to be retained.
A spokeswoman for the campaign group said while they want to meet with councillors, the local authority insists that requests for public consultations on plans for St John’s Point Lighthouse would be best addressed by the Commissioner of Irish Lights.
“The council just doesn’t get it,” the spokeswoman declared. “We recognise that meeting with the Commissioners is important, but we want to meet with councillors, the people we and many others recently elected into office.
“The Commissioners have already met with the councillors which is what we want to do. But we are being denied the opportunity.”
The spokeswoman said campaigners have put together a detailed presentation on the lighthouse issue which they would like to discuss with councillors who are charged with instructing local authority officials what to do.
“It could be argued we are being fobbed off on this particular issue and we cannot understand why. All we are asking is to meet with councillors to outline our concerns about the future of the sweeping beam which we cannot afford to lose for a whole host of reasons.”
The press and public were excluded from a recent meeting — described as a workshop — involving councillors and representatives from the Commissioner’s office, including its most senior official, Captain Robert McCabe, to discuss the future of the sweeping beam.
Campaigners say that in the interests of fairness and given the sensitive nature of the issue, they should also be permitted an opportunity to meet with elected representatives.
“Councillors have had an opportunity to hear from the Commissioners which is only right and proper. All we are asking for is the same courtesy to be extended to the Lecale Lightkeepers. What is the problem?
“The subsequent report from the workshop involving the Commissioners and councillors was just two and a half lines and how can this possibly reflect the discussions that took place? All we are asking for is an opportunity to put our case and hope the councillors will ensure that this happens.”
The spokeswoman said while it is the council’s view that a joint DEA meeting to put questions directly to representatives of the Commissioners of Irish Lights is the best way to address the issues they have raised, she contended officials are missing the point.
She added: “We are seeking a meeting with all 41 councillors so they are acutely aware of our concerns.
“If we are denied the opportunity of making a presentation to them, how are councillors supposed to know our view and the implications of losing the beam which has been part and parcel of the area’s maritime heritage for generations?”