A GOVERNMENT TD has criticised the number of posters erected on lampposts during election campaigns, and suggested parties should ask themselves whether the practice has become excessive.
Alex White, a Labour TD for Dublin South, said he wasn’t against the posters in principle but wondered if they should be reduced in number. He asked colleagues while speaking in the Dáil:
What in the name of God are we at trying to festoon every lamppost along miles and miles of road across suburban, urban or rural Ireland?
White was speaking during a debate on changes to electoral funding regulations which would introduce limits on political donations. He said the limits might serve to curtail the amount of “hardware” on the streets during election campaigns.
The deputy acknowledged that like other TDs he had postered large areas of his constituency.
You can drive for two or three miles along a stretch of road and every second lamppost you’ve put up a poster. Sometimes every lamppost. And we say to each other in a self-congratulatory way, it looks great, there’s a sweep of posters for two or three miles… What are we at?
He said the posters were a consequence of the amount of money spent during election campaigns, adding: “I think we need to ask ourselves whether it isn’t excessive.”
So what do you think? Are too many posters put up during election campaigns?
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