SARAH Jane Hennelly of ‘Limerick Together for Yes’ has hit out at what she describes as “underhand tactics” that led to the removal of large numbers of campaign posters from locations across the city last weekend.
The posters, belonging to the Social Democrats, the Green Party and the Labour were removed on Sunday evening. All the parties have reported these thefts to the Gardaí who are making enquires in to the matter.
Ms Hennelly says that local people on both sides of the debate are speaking of their disappointment at such “mean-spirited tactics”.
“The Together for Yes campaign is calling for respect, compassion and inclusion and works on a strong basis of community and information,” the Social Democrats candidate commented.
“Not everyone likes posters, they are visually intrusive and there is a good debate about they’re viability going on at the moment. However, they are a certain way to spread a message over thousands of people whether they are engaged with the issue or not. Posters are vital in campaigns today if you are trying to compete.
“Our branch members chipped in to buy the posters to make clear our total support for a Yes vote. Several volunteers went out Friday evening to hang them across the city and several people reported posters being chopped down over the weekend and taken away,” she claimed.
This, she feels, is a “nasty” way of campaigning.
“For all of us in the cross party Together For Yes group in Limerick, this is only cause for distraction. We intend to stay focused on our canvassing, outreach and events. There is a lot of hard work is going in to this campaign and I know we all agree that getting dragged into negative campaigning is not what is important,” she concluded.
by Alan Jacques
