Row over lack of Welsh in Cardigan Christmas lights continues

Cllr John Adams-Lewis last week expressed his dismay that the Christmas town lights greeting on Grosvenor Hill was confined to ‘Merry Christmas’, pointing out he had made the same complaint last year.

“Where is ‘Nadolig Llawen’?” he asked fellow councillors. “It’s important that the lights spell out ‘Nadolig Llawen’ with ‘Merry Christmas’ after it. Welsh should always come first.”

Cllr John-Adams Lewis is unhappy he has had to complain about the lack of a Welsh greeting for the past two years. (Image: Supplied)

His complaint even reached the ears of BBC Radio Wales presenter Dot Davies who, during Tuesday morning’s live broadcast from Crwst bakery, received an assurance from town mayor Cllr Sian Maehrlein that a bilingual greeting would be in place next year.

Now Cllr Richard Jones has hit back at Cllr Adams-Lewis, claiming that the lack of a Welsh Yuletide greeting was squarely down to his refusal to back the Cardigan Christmas Lights Committee’s request for an adequate base of operations.

Cllr Richard Jones pictured making his mayoral acceptance speech in 2017. (Image: Julie John)

“When I read John’s complaint about the absence of ‘Nadolig Llawen’ I was both disappointed and annoyed,” Cllr Jones – who was unable to attend last week’s town council meeting – told the Tivyside.

“A lot of people – not just town councillors – have put in a lot of work to put up the lights, so for him to then turn round and complain about a situation that he has himself caused is extremely unfair.

“Back when I was mayor the 4CG community group lent us a room to work on the Christmas Welcome lights which were hand-made.

“As that room is no longer available we applied to the town council for a hired room where we could not just house the lights, but test them as well while also working on other projects.

“When you’re putting up Christmas lights the last thing you want is for them to be found to be faulty once they’re in place.

“Anyway, the one councillor who was most vocal against us hiring a room was John Adams-Lewis.

“This meant we’ve had to store the lights under the grandstand at Cardigan RFC, but cannot work on them as there’s no power point there.

“John Adams-Lewis has never once been over to help us – all he ever seems to do is complain.”

Cllr Jones added that what was most ironic was that the town’s current illuminated display was excellent.

“I think the town traders have done a superb job in regard to the Christmas lights and decorations on their premises,” he said.

“Also, Cllr Richard Davies deserves a special mention for all the work he has put in – he’s a do-er, the town council’s newest member and one of our biggest assets.”