Rural Kildare residents 'don't feel safe' accessing bus stop due to poor public lighting

The issue was raised by Cllr William Durkan (FG) at a recent Clane Maynooth Municipal District meeting

There is an “in-built bias” in the council's public lighting policy when it comes to dealing with urban and rural areas in Co Kildare, a Fine Gael councillor has claimed.

Cllr William Durkan made the claim at a recent meeting of Clane Maynooth Municipal District, held on Friday, May 1 2026.

In his question, tabled at the meeting, Cllr Durkan had called for a costing for the provision of street lights at Clonkeen Cross on the R402, “to include the junction, footpath and bus stop areas.”

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Durkan said he raised the matter as a particular area of concern.

For councillors not familiar with the area, he said, he was referring to the R402 to Edenderry in Co Kildare, which had “quite a dark area in terms of the cross that's there.”

Clonkeen Cross, he said, has a footpath which leads down to a bus stop, but one thing the residents had raised is that they don't feel safe accessing this bus stop due to the lack of street lights in the area.

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Noting the council's report, which stated that public lighting would not be provided “as a standalone measure”, Cllr Durkan said this raised the question over why urban areas were continually prioritised over rural areas.

He understood the reasoning behind this, he said, but noted the result was a distinct gap in services between urban and rural areas.

“There's an in-built bias in the policy”, he stated.

Noting there was no costing provided in the council's response, Cllr Durkan said that while he appreciated a question could not be put on the progress report for update, he said he would follow up with the CRM system specifically.

Cllr Durkan asked that a costing be provided when a CRM comes forward to the local authority.

A council official, responding, told Cllr Durkan he would liaise with the relevant council official, and get them to contact Cllr Durkan directly on the matter.

A report issued by the council stated: “The request for the provision of public lighting at Clonkeen Cross on the R402, including the junction, footpath and bus stop areas, has been assessed in

accordance with the council’s Public Lighting Policy.

“Clonkeen Cross is classified as a Category B location, being a rural area of low district brightness that is currently unlit.

“Under this category, public lighting is not provided as a standalone measure and is only considered where it forms part of a broader engineering scheme to address identified road safety issues.”