Midnight switch-off planned for Strabane Christmas illuminations

CHRISTMAS illuminations in Strabane town centre will be switched off every day at midnight this year, in a bid by council to save on energy costs.

Following a meeting on Tuesday, Derry City and Strabane District Council confirmed that the decision had been taken in ‘light’ of the spiralling energy costs, which are having an impact on council finances.

The town’s festive switch-on will take place on Saturday, November 26 this year.

“Derry City and Strabane District Council confirmed that arrangements are currently in place to have all the Christmas lights switched off each night from midnight, where technically possible,” a spokesperson for council explained.

When further questioned on how much the festive-switch off would save and what was meant by ‘technically possible’, the spokesperson added, “It’s difficult to quantify at this stage what the saving will be. When we say ‘technically possible’, we mean that it will depend on the various light settings, and also resources available to us in some locations.”

While the practice will not be rolled out across all councils in the North, the spokesperson also confirmed that all Christmas lights across the district will be subject to the decision taken by council.

The majority of lights are operated from council-operated mini pillars, but there are some installations which share their supply with street lights, and council are undertaking conversations with stakeholders to separate the supplies.

It has also been confirmed that there are no plans to reduce the number of days the festive installation is in place, nor the amount of illuminations around the town.