THE city’s ESB and Eircom poles, and billboard areas, will be not be as festooned with election posters this June, with many candidates for the upcoming local election resolved to face the electorate in the flesh only.
However, it has been confirmed that the Labour Party candidates are ready to go their own way.
Many councillors contend that the banning of posters would be good for the environment, good for road safety and good for democracy.
City manager, Tom Mackey, reminded councillors that the Department of the Environment are to bring in legislation prohibiting posters, and that it is currently seeking locations for a pilot project.
“We are under no obligation to participate – we can ignore this,” he said, but when asked if candidates who are not members of the council would have to adhere to requirements, he replied: “it would be up to the city council to introduce by-laws for this”.
Fianna Fail has agreed to ban postering and billboards.
“It’s our view that posters should be banned – it’s just a form of littering but I’d like to know why
we did not get the Department reports that were sent down to City Hall on this.” remarked Kieran O’Hanlon.
Mr Mackey said they should check to see if “there was a glitch in sending out the report.”
All Fine Gael councillors are united in banning election posters, and a number of Independents, including James Houlihan and Lilly Wallace, share this view.
Cllr Pat Kennedy pointed out it had not yet been passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas and on a personal note, Cllr Wallace, recalling the last local election, said she had used one or two very small posters and had been elected, while other candidates, with huge posters had not been successful.
All in favour of postering, which, he said, “adds to the razzmatazz of elections, Labour’s Cllr Joe Leddin intervened: “Our posters are all ready to go up any day now”.
Calculating that the total cost of posters for all candidates running for election to the city council would run in excess of 100,000 euro, Cllr Diarmuid Scully said: “That obscene amount of money buys nothing but litter and the occasional obstruction of road signs”.
