SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY Council has taken the first steps towards restricting election posters in the constituency.

On Monday, councillors voted unanimously to support a Green Party motion calling for the council to explore whether posters could be banned in all but certain designated areas.

South Dublin County Council covers vast swathes of the capital and Dublin county, including Clondalkin, Lucan, Rathfarnham, Tallaght, Terenure and Templeogue.

According to the latest 2016 census, the council is the third largest local authority in Ireland, with a population of 278,749.

Councillor Francis Duffy’s motion was passed without opposition on Monday evening’s council session, and will now be considered by the council’s environment, public realm and climate change strategic policy committee.

Unsightly

“Restrictions on election postering is something that the Green Party has supported for a long time,” he said.

He added: “It is a cleaner, environmentally-friendly proposal, it promotes a safer local environment cutting down on litter and the dangers of falling posters, and eliminates the unsightly spectacle of posters clinging to every public space during election time.

With the emergence of so many new political parties and independents, we can expect to see an even further proliferation of haphazard, disorganised postering in the future.

A humorous election poster for Agnes Brown, a fictional character played by Brendan O'Carroll.

France, Italy and Japan

The motion calls the practice of postering “unsightly, dangerous to pedestrians, cyclists [and] road users” and damaging to the environment.

It also notes that some local authorities in France, Italy and Japan have already restricted the practice to designated areas.

Green Party spokesman Gavin Nugent said that French and Japanese elections, in particular, see postering restricted to designated areas.

“There are a couple of ways to look at it,” he told TheJournal.ie.

It could be restricted to certain geographic areas, or you could look at erecting temporary billboards, as in Japan, where posters would be displayed.

Dodgy

“This would be challenging in some rural areas, but in urban areas it would make a big difference,” Nugent added.

“The level of postering has become very dodgy, especially with the proliferation of smaller parties and independents.”

Before the last election, Green Party TD Catherine Martin had a similar motion defeated by councillors in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.

That motion called for the posters to be restricted, whereas this motion, proposed by Duffy, called for the SDCC to explore options around restricting posters.

What do you think? Should election posters be restricted?

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