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Malin defends election poster
ban
08.05.07
A tidy towns committee
in Inishowen is standing by its decision to ban
election posters from its village.
The tidy towns committee in Malin - twice winner of
the overall national title, has already taken down
posters from across the political spectrum.
Committee chairperson, John Henry McLaughlin
yesterday warned that posters put up between now and
polling day on May 24th, would suffer the same fate.
He said the ban was a "democratic one" in that it
affected everyone. |
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"We don't allow posters
of any sort within the village boundaries so we
don't think election time should be any different,"
said Mr. McLaughlin, himself a member of the local
Fianna Fail cumann.
"Most people accept and respect our wishes so we
would expect the politicians to do the same." |
While adjudicating of
the tidy towns does not start until next month, Mr.
McLaughlin said the committee would not change its
stance on the issue.
"We have a blanket ban on posters whether they're
estate agents' 'For Sale' signs or circus posters,
so it would be a bit hypocritical to allow
politicians to advertise when others can't." He
favoured specially designated areas where all
election candidates could advertise together.
Sinn Fein candidate Cllr. Padraig MacLochlainn said
his party had no problem conceding to the demand.
But he felt a concession should be made for a
general election. "The posters are only up for a
short period of time and must be taken down ten days
afterwards. I think the adjudicators would factor
that in."
Meanwhile, Green Party candidate Frank Gallagher
said he had no issue with the ban. "That's okay
provided everyone is treated the same," he said. |
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