Dublin City Council (DCC) is coming under sustained criticism for calling its end-of-year special lighting display “Winter Lights” instead of “Christmas Lights”.

“Dublin Winter Lights is back this December, bigger and better,” DCC posted on social media. “Experience the magic in Dublin City Centre with 25 locations featuring spectacular light installations and interactive activities for all ages.”

In the more than 1,000 replies on social media, the comment most frequently made was that the installations should be called “Christmas Lights” – with many echoing the comment from activist Aisling Considine that “Christmas is part of our culture. People of all faiths and none are welcome to celebrate”.

However, Dublin City Council defended the decision, telling Gript that there is a misconception that the festival, which begun in 2018, had been renamed “from Christmas lights to Winter lights, but this is not the case”.

“The festival has always been called ‘Winter Lights’, and the festival has included elements of the Christmas/festive period in its programming and in its marketing.”