A selection of ‘public meeting’ posters in Dublin within the past month
It is my understanding that a law exists that prohibits politicians from erecting posters on lampposts except within one month of an election. For some reason or other this law does not appear to apply in this area of south Co Dublin, where lampposts have been festooned with politicians’ posters for quite some time now.
Perhaps there has been a change in the law which has escaped my notice as I feel sure that public representatives, who themselves are lawmakers, would never flout the law. Would they?Md Kennedy,
Milltown,
Dublin 6.
Anyone?
Meanwhile…
BREAKING: Taoiseach @EndaKennyTD tells workday staff “constitution says 7 years, convention says 5” ….. #ge15 #ge16 or #ge18 ?????
— Páraic Gallagher (@paraicgallagher) October 7, 2015
Political posters (Irish Times letters page)
Pics via Mayo Man In Dublin and Eamonn Torsney
I wondered this myself as there are few around D6 as well. Getting their faces up before a snap GE???
North Kildare has had a selection of peeling paper-on-old-election-poster “public meeting” posters from the various fragments of the AAA/PBPA/Whatever they’re calling themselves this week for the past two years. As soon as one meeting is held, they’re re-stuck with the next and shoved back up again.
Same in D8. Just vertical litter at this stage.
Additionally, while the constitution may say 7 (I can’t be arsed checking) the Electoral Acts say 5 and they’d need to be amended. I don’t think the furore over doing that would die down quickly.
Article 16(5) of the Constitution says seven years or less as mandated by an act of the Oireachtas.
Section Electoral (Amendment) Act 1927 (Section 7) says maximum is 5 years.
Electoral Act 1963 repealed the 1927 act but still 5 years maximum length.
This 1963 Act was repealed by the European Parliament Elections Act 1997. This act doesn’t seem to lay down a shorter length than 7 years. Anyone?!
Oh wait, Electoral Act 1992, Section 33, still in force.
Eoghan Murphy TD has some dopey, illegible “eradicate poverty” poster stuck up in front of the traffic lights at the Sundrive junction in D12. Poster completely blocks the lights. Posters & cable ties are essentially litter but politicians should be prevented from placing a poster within 10 metres of any road sign or traffic signal. Those that do should be heavily fined, and enforcement of postering by-laws should be tightened.
Too right. I’d ban them altogether. The posters ruin our neighbourhoods and our roads. If a candidate can’t communicate their policies and manifesto via normal communication channels but have to resort to cheap posters…well they’re not worth electing.
We got rid of the megaphone from the kerb-crawling Ford Cortina sunroof.
We even got rid of the Father Ted caravans at the polling booths.
I don’t know if we got rid of the church gate electioneering, anyone?
Posters NEXT!
Those posters aren’t cheap.
Those aren’t election posters MD Kennedy, so the rule you mention doesn’t apply.
Billboard space has already been fully bought up so November election looks 99.324% certain
That’s ok then. Ignore all the other comments.
Thanks for the tip but I’m already way ahead of you.
No, the election will be in 2016. No one has an election in November unless they have to. 1992 was the last time I think, after the PD-FF coalition fell apart post-Beef Tribunal.
Also, canvassers don’t like cold weather!
Chancers will be chancers. The same people we ‘trust’ to come up with watertight legislation are the ones who specialise in circumventing them.
This type of posting is legal as long as it is posted something like 7 days before the meeting and comes down after it. It’s the same law that allows AAA, PBP and others to advertise their protest marches etc
All postings like this should be banned full stop
Are election posters just an Irish thing? Living in Engerland you wouldn’t even think there was a General Election happening last May. Quite nice to see the entire country not festooned in cheap plastic posters.
Would love to see them banned in Ireland.
You see them in shop and house windows in the UK far more than on streets.
Enda is wrong again. The constitution sets a maximum possible at 7 years. However the law dictates the current maximum is 5 years under section 7 of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1927.
The law would need to be changed to allow longer than 5 years and the both constitution and the Electoral Act would have to be changed to allow longer than 7.
Neale Richmond has some “Luas Meeting” posters up in Sandyford for some reason. WTF is wrong with the Luas that there needs to be a meeting about it..
There have been posters on Goatstown Road about events in The Goat, BSJ’s, and Crokes’ clubhouses for months now. Booterstown ave is the exact same.
Add Broadsheet favourite Lucinda Crieghton to this list – advertising a meeting about the budget around Donnybrook
There’s a load of posters up for Renua meetings right now – Lucinda in around Ballsbridge as well as Donnybrook, and one of their other shower between Glasnevin and Santry.
Tully from Labour was doing one a few weeks ago over west Dublin. Think she was helping you with your CV or some other bull.
Wasn’t there one over Rathdown area last year helping you you your back pain or such.
John Lahart had posters up around Knocklyon recently in support of the “Dubs”
https://www.facebook.com/JohnALahart/photos/pcb.897228606998919/897228403665606/?type=3&theater
These “people” think they own the place and can do whatever they please. Breathtaking arrogance.