The futility of Election Posters

Slideshowbob

Makes me mad to see this waste of plastic.

In France at each town hall, a bill board is put up outside the building at election time and each candidate can put up one poster - why can't we do that here?

Also in this weather they are dangerous!

Why do the Greens put them up? How much carbon footprint does each poster leave?

Check this out - Gormley is quipping about the posters on twitter:

http://twitter.com/#!/JohnGormley/status/33224356951760896

Breezer

There seems to be less of them this time (still way too many though). Not sure if that's because it's early days yet, there's less money, or they've all just blown down.

Liam Byrne

Loads around here, including, strangely, two different ones for Willie O'Disaster - one with a microscopic FF logo and one with a half-acceptably-sized one.

Hoping the storm tonight will get rid of a few hundred, because they're a disgrace and untidy an ridiculously on every second pole.

Slideshowbob

yeah it would be great if they just blew away.

Unfortunately, it will be left to some council cleaners to pick them up.

Then the wasteful political parties can justify commissioning more waste and getting party faithful or (as I believe they use now) contractors to put more up so they can get blown down again.

I heard the ones put up are not made for winter weather as most recent elections have been in summer so parties/printers got used to having "weaker" posters.

Of course the flip side is a print company owner was on TV recently saying how great it was for their industry. :rolleyes:

I also hate the way cable ties get left on poles btw

blahfckingblah

Liam Byrne wrote: »

Hoping the storm tonight will get rid of a few hundred, because they're a disgrace and untidy an ridiculously on every second pole.

its rediculous the amount of them alright, but i think somehow they look worse on the ground or hanging off a pole.

rubadub

Slideshowbob wrote: »

I also hate the way cable ties get left on poles btw

There was talk of having ID on these so they would be fined later on if left on. The majority do not trim them, I have seen people whipped in the face by cable ties on cycle tracks. In dun laoghaire rathdown area a massive amount of posters are illegal, they are classed as litter.

I emailed all the main parties about this and did not get a single response. FG have plenty of dangerous ones at the moment, but labour are taking the absolute piss.

rubadub wrote: »

http://www.dlrcoco.ie/Meetings/2009/DDHWWEDCEC/MAR09.htm

Guidelines Relating to the Display of Election Poster:

1. Election posters should only be erected after an election has been declared and a polling date determined.

2. In accordance with the Litter Pollution Act 1997 election posters and ties must be removed within 7 days after polling date. Failure to do so may result in prosecution. The associated fixing arrangement particularly plastic ties must be removed at the same time the poster is being removed.

3. No adhesive or metal fixings are permitted.

4. All posters should be manufactured from cardboard composites or other recyclable materials.

5. The Party or individual responsible for the poster must be clearly indicated on the poster.

6. Posters must not be erected as follows:

a. on lamp standards with overhead line electricity feed,

b. on traffic signal poles,

c. on bridge parapets, overpasses and on pedestrian bridges

d. on roadside traffic barriers

e. on traffic poles or statutory signage of any type including stop, yield, cycletrack, parking control, etc.

f. on Motorways

g. must not obstruct the view of traffic lights or road signs,

h. must not block or obstruct motorists view of pedestrians, i.e. pedestrian barriers, or railings.

7. There should be a minimum clearance of 2.5 metres (8ft) from the lower edge of any poster to ground level and no posters should be placed higher than 6.5 metres (20ft) from the ground.

8. A maximum of two posters per candidate is permitted on any lamp or standard pole.

9. Political parties/independent candidates are reminded that no claims for damages arising from placing, displaying or removal of their posters will lie with the Council and they may consider it appropriate to take out Public Liability Insurance in this regard.

Election posters that do not comply with these conditions or that are erected on Council property prior to the declaration of an election will be removed by the Council. In the event of a breach of the Litter Pollution Act, 1997 prosecutions may be initiated.

After a brief discussion during which John Guckian answered Members queries, the Councillors requested that the Manager examine the possibility of implementing a scheme similar to Dublin City Council’s system whereby posters are removed at a cost to the parties. J. Guckian AGREED to come back to the Members with a report on the feasibility of this scheme in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.

So if some scumbag has littered outside your house feel free to put this litter in the bin where it belongs. They have to be recycleable so can go in your green bins, though the bastards might have ignored that part too. I am going to take great joy in ripping them all down and handing them to the canvassers outside the polling station, there is often a gardai presence and hopefully I will catch some in the act of putting them up and ask for them to be arrested for littering (not sure if they do though, or if it is just litter wardens?).

I am not sure about other county council rulings, I expect there are similar guidelines which have been ignored around the country.
These bastards obviously think they are a law unto themselves and can arrogantly put posters where ever they want, endangering people in the process and blocking footpaths, and cycletracks and leaving posters flying about on dual carriage ways into incoming traffic. At whites cross the green party had almost completely covered the pedestrian railings, blocking small children from the view of traffic, very thoughtful... I read of another person whose windscreen was smashed by a flying poster, they are heavy plastic these days.

Why they are not outlawed completely is very strange...

The taxpayer gets NOTHING out of these posters, only the cost of cleaning up the mess and the unsightly look in their area.

Tarobot

I'd love to see them banned. Total waste of money, resources etc. And dangerous to boot in this weather.

oppenheimer1

What I hate most about them is that they never take the cable ties down when they take the posters down.

Lawrence1895

In my opinion, they are boring (only a face, but not telling, what the party stands for), dangerous (flying in the wind) and scary (at least some faces are)

takun

A merry go round. They are pointless in the extreme and it's only because everyone else does it that anyone does it. Printers are possibly the only demographic whose votes they may sway.

Liam Byrne wrote: »

one with a microscopic FF logo and one with a half-acceptably-sized one.

He is ahead of John McGuinness in Carlow/Kilkenny who has NO FF logo at all on his. Though most of them blew away the other night anyway.

carwash_2006

Apparently, to add insult to injury, most of them have been printed in Northern Ireland as well!! So they can't even claim providing work for struggling printers.

Sierra Oscar

carwash_2006 wrote: »

Apparently, to add insult to injury, most of them have been printed in Northern Ireland as well!! So they can't even claim providing work for struggling printers.

Not so sure about that, I was actually reading the FF ones to check and they were printed in Dublin. I would imagine all parties would use similar companies.

It says on the posters where they were printed and who published them.

Thoie

Dear Canvassers,

You will be thrilled to know that I have marked all the cable ties attached to your posters in UV pen with your initials. If you discover after the election that your campaign staff have failed to remove the cable ties, as so often happens, you will be easily able to identify which are yours and remove them yourself, so as not to fall foul of the littering act.

Regards,
Thoie

Seth Brundle

I would love to know who exactly has been fined in the past by local authorities for non removal of posters or ties or for erection before the permitted date.

I also heard during a discussion on newstalk yesterday (IIRC it was Mr. Yeates) who said that each poster costs the party €4.50 - an incredible amount to waste in these times.

femur61

I agree with you and also I think canvassing is a waste as well. Peraonally I've made my mind up and it will only make me angry if greens or FF come to my door.

thetonynator

takun wrote: »

A merry go round. They are pointless in the extreme and it's only because everyone else does it that anyone does it. Printers are possibly the only demographic whose votes they may sway.



He is ahead of John McGuinness in Carlow/Kilkenny who has NO FF logo at all on his. Though most of them blew away the other night anyway.

There was a discussion about this on the Kilkenny forum: we found the logo!! It is miniscule, on the top left hand corner, and it is white on an off white background! But it is there . . .

Speaking of carlow kilkenny: FF's Bobby Aylward has no posters up (that i am aware of) in any area in kilkenny, including some of the south.