Almost 7km of bulbs twinkling as Cork City lights up for Christmas

Festive lights turned on several days earlier than planned

Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Deirdre Forde and Oisín Robinson switch on the Christmas lights in Cork City on Thursday. Picture: Alison Miles /OSM 

Low wattage and low-key — that was the theme as Cork lit up for Christmas on Thursday evening. 

Just days after City Hall confirmed it was pulling the plug on a large-scale public lighting-up ceremony amid crowd control concerns, it had operations crews up ladders on Wednesday night to flick the switches to turn on the festive lights several days earlier than planned, marking what for many is the start of the official count-down to Christmas on Leeside.