Britain to halt Irish lighthouse subsidy

AFTER more than 200 years, British taxpayers will no longer continue to subsidise the maintenance of lighthouses in Ireland.

The Department of Transport confirmed an agreement has been reached with Britain to sever a historic nautical link dating back to the 1786 Act of the Parliament of Ireland.

The act established the Commissioner for Irish Lights (CILs), which runs Ireland’s 80 lighthouses, and has been subsidised by the British taxpayer ever since — currently about £12 million (€13.8m) a year.