TII policy prevents street lighting outside 'dangerous' funeral home

Council officials have been told to ignore the TII and to install lighting outside a Crossmolina funeral home to prevent a fatality or serious injury.

Councillors in the Ballina Municipal District all agreed to a motion to extend the public lights beyond Hiney's Funeral Home on the Ballina Road in Crossmolina for the safety of people attending funerals.

The funeral home is located 460 metres outside the town along the N59 and councillors were informed that it is the policy of Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) not to provide footpaths or street lighting on high speed roads where the speed limit is 100 km per hour.

Crossmolina-based councillor Michael Loftus who proposed the motion told the monthly meeting of Ballina Municipal District that two weeks ago a serious traffic accident involving a car attending a funeral occurred outside the funeral home. While there was nobody seriously injured in the collision he fears it is only a matter of time before there is one.

“I would plead before someone gets killed because it is only a matter of time that someone will get killed because of a funeral and attending a funeral. When that happens everyone will come on board to say why was that not done. You see how dangerous it is.

“So why not be proactive instead of being reactive. That is all I am asking,” he said.

Cllr Loftus said planning permission was given by Mayo County Council for the funeral home and he did not accept the argument that the TII will not allow lighting or footballs. He claimed there were already street lights beyond the town boundary and there was no reason why they could not be extended.

He was supported by his fellow councillors who said that they have all attended funerals at the location and that people are taking their life in their hands when crossing the road.

Killala-based councillor Jarlath Munnelly told the meeting that having spoken to council engineers about the issue, their attitude is that planning permission should never have been given in the first place. He said regardless of this opinion, the funeral home was given permission and the safety issues have to be addressed.

“This is an example of an imperfect situation but we have to deal with it. There are going to be crowds of people there sometimes in darkness in the future and that is the way it is. It is a road safety concern and we will have to make it safer. It is as simple as that. Lighting and footpaths are two things that will work,” he said, adding that the council has to take the argument to the TII to allow the work to be carried out.

In a response to Cllr Loftus' motion, Orla Bourke, the senior executive engineer with Mayo County Council said she will forward the request to the TII. She added that the owner of the business may consider the management of onsite parking for efficient queueing or introduce a shuttle bus service from a suitable location to cater for large events.