President-elect Catherine Connolly facing littering fines over stray campaign posters
Darragh Mc Donagh
President-elect Catherine Connolly could be facing fines for littering as a number of her election posters remain in place, six days after they were required by law to be taken down.
Under the Litter Pollution Act 1997, election candidates may only erect posters 30 days prior to polling day, and must remove them within seven days after the election.
Candidates in last month’s presidential election were therefore required to remove all of their posters by midnight on October 31st, and can face fines of €150 for each poster that remains up after that date.
Several Catherine Connolly posters remain on lampposts in Balla, Co Mayo, while others have also been spotted in recent days in the nearby town of Castlebar.
Neither Ms Connolly nor her campaign manager responded to queries yesterday, but a dedicated email address has been set up by her campaign, asking members of the public to get in touch if they spot any remaining posters.
A number of local authorities have published advice to election candidates, recommending that they inform all agents and volunteers of the requirement to remove posters within seven days of polling.
They warn that litter warden teams will be patrolling and have been instructed to note the location of any remaining posters. Local authorities can remove posters and issue on-the-spot fines of €150 for each offence.
Ms Connolly will be inaugurated as the 10th president of Ireland next week after she secured 63.4 per cent of the votes in a landslide electoral victory on October 24th. Her campaign had been backed by Sinn Féin, the Labour Party, the Green Party, People Before Profit, and others.
Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys finished second on 29.5 per cent, while Fianna Fáil candidate Jim Gavin, who had withdrawn from the campaign in early October, won 7.2 per cent of the vote.
In addition to ensuring that no election posters remain outside of the permissible period, local authorities are also responsible for removing posters deemed to constitute a hazard to road safety or pedestrians.
Posters should be erected at a minimum height of 2.3 metres above footpaths and cycleways, and cannot be placed within 50 metres of a polling station while voting is taking place.
