The Xerox junction in Dundalk
Louth County Council have warned motorists about a possible power outage at the Xerox junction in Dundalk tomorrow morning.
Traffic lights at the busy junction may be affected by ESB works taking place from 9am to 3pm.
The lights have been frequently out of order in recent times but if out again tomorrow motorists are advised to proceed with caution.
The Xerox junction in Dundalk
Traffic lights at the Xerox junction in Dundalk are out of order at present.
This follows a road accident at the junction around 2.30am this morning that resulted in the road being closed for a short period.
It is not known when the lights will be back working again so motorists are asked to proceed with caution.
The lights have been an ongoing problem due to faults in recent times.
The Xerox junction in Dundalk
Motorists are urged to be cautious when approaching the traffic lights at the Xerox junction in Dundalk this morning as they are out of order.
This is believed to be in relation to a power fault in parts of Dundalk.
The lights at the Xerox junction have been giving problems for some time and were out of order for a number of days in both April and February.
Work to repair the lights at the junction of the R132/Dublin Road and N52/Inner Relief Road will take place as soon as possible.
The junction is one of the busiest in Dundalk because of its link to the M1 motorway.
The Xerox junction in Dundalk
The traffic lights at the Xerox junction in Dundalk are back working again as of 4.20pm.
The lights had been out of order for much of today and yesterday causing traffic chaos at the junction.
Earlier Gardaí had said they were unable to steward the junction during the outage due to a lack of manpower.
The Xerox junction in Dundalk
Gardaí in Dundalk insist they do not have the manpower to steward the busy Xerox junction while its traffic lights are out of order.
The lights at the junction have been out of order since yesterday morning and, while they were fixed briefly, they remain out this morning.
This has led to traffic chaos at the junction, with at least one accident occurring so far involving three cars yesterday morning.
Speaking on LMFM this morning, Cllr Tomás Sharkey described the current situation as “utter chaos” and hit out at Louth County Council for the lack of information on the subject on both their Twitter feed and website.
He said he had been told by council officials that they had asked Gardaí to steward the junction while the contractor looked to repair the lights but their response was that there was no one available.
Cllr Declan Breathnach said councillors were told in March 2014 that the Gardaí would require four people to look after the junction when lights were out but they were told at the time “they wouldn’t have that.”
The Fianna Fáil representative praised the likes of AA and Talk of the Town for highlighting the issue but said a long-term solution was needed for lights which “have a huge history of out of orders.”
“It’s not acceptable and we need to get to the root of the problem,” he said.
“It’s not good enough and the people responsible for the contract need to give a full explanation. It’s probably the busiest junction in Dundalk and surrounding areas.”
He added that a system needed to be put in place to give indication to motorists when the lights were out to proceed with caution.
The Xerox junction in Dundalk
The traffic lights at the Xerox junction in Dundalk remain out of order this morning with motorists urged to be cautious on approach.
All of the lights at the junction were green yesterday with at least one accident involving three cars occurring and many narrowly avoided.
The Xerox junction in Dundalk
Motorists are urged to be cautious when approaching the traffic lights at the Xerox junction in Dundalk this afternoon as they are out of order.
There has already been one accident at the busy junction this morning and the lights are not expected to fixed until later this evening at the earliest.
There were a number of break-ins to houses throughout Dundalk at the weekend with up to a dozen being reported on Saturday night.
Areas targeted included Ashbrook, Woodbury Gardens, Garrybawn and Lennonstown Manor.
It is also reported that one of the homes broken into had been burgled for the third time.
Anyone with information on any of the incidents is asked to contact Dundalk Gardaí while neighbours are encouraged to keep an eye out for suspicious activity in their area.
Meanwhile, one person was hospitalised with minor injuries following a road traffic accident involving four vehicles at the Xerox junction on Sunday night.
The ambulance whose back wheel fell off in Dundalk earlier this month
Ambulance staff have been asked to check the nuts on the wheels of their vehicles before starting each shift, it has emerged.
An internal HSE memo was sent to workers recently giving detailed instruction on how to carry out the new required safety check.
The document, dated Friday February 21st, was drafted just two weeks before the wheel came off an ambulance at the Xerox junction in Dundalk, shortly after it had brought a patient to hospital. It is understood the memo was only issued, however, after that incident.
Staff are said to be angry about the new measures, insisting they are paid to be paramedics and not mechanics.
The ambulance with its back wheel off
Louth TD Seamus Kirk has called on the Minister for Health James Reilly to launch an investigation into how the back wheel managed to fall off an ambulance in Dundalk yesterday.
The vehicle became stranded at the Xerox junction in Dundalk yesterday morning after the rear passenger wheel fell off.
There have been reports that the vehicle had 400,000 kilometres on the clock.
The Fianna Fáil deputy said the incident could have been very serious had it occurred on the motorway or if a patient had been in transport at the time.
Thankfully for all concerned there was no patient in the ambulance at the time of its malfunction as it had just brought someone to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda and was returning to base in the Louth County Hospital.
Talk of the Town 