Tipperary Council told it needs to 'cop on' over plastics waste from election posters

A councillor put Tipperary County Council under pressure to restrict candidate posters during election campaigns at its February meeting but was told the Council couldn’t enforce any new local policy introduced.

That was the message Independent Cllr Andy Moloney received from a Council official when he tabled a motion at the meeting calling on the local authority to regulate the number of election posters candidates can erect or designate locations in towns and villages where posters are permitted.

The motion tabled at the monthly meeting of the Council’s elected members in Clonmel was seconded by Fianna Fáil Cllr Micheál Smith. It appealed to the Council to have a “serious discussion” about the amount of candidate posters erected around the county at election times.

Cllr Moloney said he tabled motions on this issue in 2014 and 2019 and got “hammered” every time but he stressed they needed to “cop on” about the dangers of micro-plastics waste arising from election posters.

He said he counted 257 posters erected between the Cahir and Fethard Road roundabouts on the Clonmel Inner Relief Road during the last election campaign.

He highlighted the problem of discarded cable ties used to erect posters on poles and said the Council needed to start making an effort to reduce the use of single use plastics where possible.

“We are talking about climate action but if we are serious about it we need to restrict postering,” he argued.
Referring to the Council’s two page response to his motion, he pointed out that he would rather it be referred to the authority's Environment & Climate Change Special Policy Committee rather than the Minister of Housing, Local Government & Heritage. He proposed the SPC devise a policy regulating election posters and their location.

He acknowledged his calls for more regulation of postering at every election may be getting “monotonus” but he pledged to continue his campaign.

Tipperary Town Sinn Féin Cllr Annemarie Ryan said she fully agreed with Cllr Moloney, particularly his call to designate areas in towns for election posters. She referred to Tipperary Tidy Towns Group’s efforts to restrict the erection of posters in her hometown.

She said the Council needed to take the initiative, come up with its own policy and get the consent of councillors and the wider community.

But Cashel Independent Cllr Liam Browne declared he didn’t want any restrictions on election postering imposed. He argued that posters are a very important means of raising an unelected first time candidate’s profile and he believed the public do take notice of them.

Outgoing councillors/TDs have a huge advantage in terms of public recognition compared to first time candidates and this is why they needed posters, he argued. 

He took issue with Tidy Towns groups making decisions about election posters without consulting all candidates.

He claimed a decision was made in Tipperary Town after consultation only with elected representatives not with the unelected candidates. “Nobody should make a decision for someone who is not invited into the conversation.

Carrick-on-Suir Sinn Féin Cllr David Dunne said he agreed with the sentiments of the motion but expressed the view that ways would be found to bypass any rules introduced to regulate the erection of posters.

He said bigger political parties had more resources to spend money on posters and he believed every candidate should be allocated the same amount of space for postering.

Council Senior Executive Officer Ger Walsh responded to the debate and Cllr Moloney by making it clear there was national legislation in place in relation to election postering candidates must abide by.

He said the Council could bring in a policy but it would be impossible for the Council to enforce but without the commitment of all candidates,

The legislation he referred to regulates when posters can be erected and removed but doesn’t restrict the number of posters.

The 1961 Road Traffic Act prohibits locating posters in places where they obstruct or make a traffic sign less visible while the Council has a protocol in place restricting where posters can be placed on roads in the interest of road safety.

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