Castle Rushen needs to be bathed in bright lights more often, according to one of Castletown’s MHKs.

At the recent Festival of Light celebration to end the Year of Our Island, the castle was lit up especially.

In Tynwald on Tuesday, Jason Moorhouse (Arbory, Castletown and Malew) asked Enterprise Minister Laurence Skelly to encourage Manx National Heritage to take the lighting up of the castle to ’a new level’.

’As we saw in recent weeks, the best modern lighting does transform that amazing building,’ he said.

But Mr Skelly sounded a note of caution.

’It is a very significant site of Manx National Heritage, but what I would point out is it is one of many sites that Manx National Heritage has and that we as the public do actually greatly enjoy,’ he said.

’Let’s not forget there are numerous sites of Manx National Heritage. They have a challenging budget and I am sure they will take on board what has been stated here.’

Earlier, Mr Skelly said that the castle was normally lit up between dusk and midnight, year-round.

MNH reviewed the lighting at the castle and discovered some lights had failed. They were replaced with new LED lights, which were more efficient and would reduce maintenance and running costs.

In response to a question from Mr Moorhouse, he said the overall cost of lighting the castle had not been assessed recently.