The picture by Liamy McNally of a traffic jam on the approach road into Westport from Castlebar yesterday - caused by issues with the town's traffic lights.

Can anybody fix Westport's traffic lights nightmare?

It is a well-known fact that when the traffic lights are turned off in Westport town on the busiest day of the year – Reek Sunday – there is never a problem with traffic flow.

The same situation applied when Mayo County Council switched off the lights for a trial period a number of weeks ago.

Now chaos has returned since they were put back on – most notably at Castlebar Road and Newport Road due to the problematic lights at the old courthouse and the library, respectively.

Well-known local personality, Liamy McNally, opened a full scale social media debate on the issue when he posted the following comment on his Facebook page yesterday which was accompanied by a photograph of a traffic jam on Castlebar Road.

It stated: “Is there a politician, council official or garda who can use common sense or even take a hike out the Castlebar Road to see the traffic backup?

"People deserve better than this kind of stupidity masquerading as traffic management and road safety. Time to wake up.

His views drew a great deal of support.

One respondent stated: “This is crazy! Traffic was moving so well while the lights were out, so what is the point of putting them back on?”

Another said: “Traffic lights in Westport never worked, so why can't they just switch them off and let the traffic flow. Just does not make sense.”

The point was also made in regard to what will happen in the middle of summer rush hour if this is going on in the middle of May.

When contacted by The Connaught Telegraph, Liamy said it's a very hot topic locally and a decision needs to be taken to resolve it.

He explained the decision to move the light for the Distillery Road filter lane from the courthouse to the Castlecourt Hotel side of Castlebar Street is compounded the problem.

“It is disappointing that nothing was learned from the trial period when the traffic lights were switched off,” he added.

Councillor Brendan Mulroy is seeking a meeting with the management of Westport Municipal District to come up with a solution once and for all.

“In my view, proper traffic management, not traffic lights, would address the problem,” he added.