Shop owners feeling a little left out in the cold in Armagh this Christmas will soon be basking in the festive glow enjoyed across the rest of the city!
Many were up in arms that, once again, the area around Lower English Street, Railway Street and as far as the Moy Road were left in the dark.
As soon as the lights began going up across Armagh ahead of Georgian Day, it became clear once again that they had been overlooked in the lighting department.
Barber Mark McSherry vented his frustration on social media, his bugbear with lights part of a wider dissatisfaction on Armagh as a whole, citing the need for investment and fresh efforts to draw shoppers and visitors in.
Mark took a tour of the city’s commercial heart and described the lighting in some parts of the city – 0r lack thereof – as “shocking”.
He said: “From the Shambles roundabout to the busiest entrance on the Moy Road – nowt! Even Russell Street looked dark, unless I missed something.
“The Keady Road end of the city ain’t much better and look at the traffic comes that way…
“ABC would need to look and see it’s 2026, not the candlelit times like the Georgian times which, again unless I’m missing out, it’s about the only thing that’s pushed these days?”
Offering a hat-tip to Rushmere in Craigavon – which he described as thriving – Mark added: “That’s what Armagh needs – investment, or at least some money spent on it to make it inviting again! A place to go! As I drove the town today I watched no-one was actually stopping in it, merely driving through.
“Looks like we’re stuck in the dark times looking back at history, instead of getting with the modern times – and bloody bleak times it is when you light up the jail like the international airport!”
The words of frustrated locals have not gone unheard, however.
And now it has been confirmed that lighting will be erected this week to help those left out feel more included this Yuletide!
Sinn Féin Councillor Sarah Duffy said she had secured the installation of new Christmas lighting across the west of Armagh city, ensuring that “residents in the area are fully included in this year’s festive celebrations”.
She explained: “The move comes after local people raised concerns that their community had been overlooked in previous lighting plans.
“Residents contacted me over recent weeks to highlight that the west of our city had been left without festive lighting. I took those concerns directly to council officers and I’m delighted to have secured agreement for new lights to be installed.
“Festive features will be erected in the Shambles area and at Tom O’Kane’s roundabout, and repairs will also be carried out to the existing lighting at the Shambles Yard where faults had been reported.
