Louth councillors reject one poster per candidate proposal

Councillors at the Louth County Council Special Meeting on Wednesday evening voted against a motion from Cllr Maeve Yore, which requested that election candidates not erect election posters, and to agree a location in each municipal and borough district, where each candidate would erect one poster each, to show commitment to the environment.

The special meeting was held as a follow on to the March monthly meeting, as not all items on the March agenda were covered in the monthly meeting in the allotted time. The special meeting was held with the aim of resolving the ten motions that had been resolved at the March meeting, along with Notices of Questions in relation to four questions to the local authority from councillors, and condolonces.

Cllr Yore's motion was the first one dealt with at the meeting and read: "That all current elected representatives and election candidates will adhere to the voluntary code of practice (from Tidy Town Groups) not to erect election posters for local elections in 2024 and forthcoming election campaigns across Co Louth and agree a prime location across each Municipal & Borough District to display one poster per candidate to show commitment to the environment."

Several councillors spoke at the meeting, opposing the motion. Cllr John Sheridan was first to speak, saying that he had doubts that it could legally be passed. He added that he didn't want to be a hypocrite as he was elected the first time with posters and that he didn't want to "climb the ladder and be accused of pulling the ladder up behind me." 

Cllr Sheridan asked what the carbon footprint of social media was, as it also has an environmental impact in terms of data centres and that it needs to be clarified. The Fianna Fáil councillor added that Kerry County Council ended up in the Supreme Court over the result of the 2014 local election, and a recount was ordered.

He further added that "section 101 of the 1995 Statutory Instrument is very clear about posters in local elections and if the motion was passed any unsuccessful candidate could could easily take a case to the courts challenging the result.

Cllr Michelle Hall said that it would be unfair on first time candidates and added that she would be using posters she used in the 2019 election. Cllr Kevin Meenan agreed that it would be unfair on first time candidates but added that he though the motion "was coming from a good place", comments that were agreed with by Cllr Dolores Minogue.

Cllr Marianne Butler highlighted that a lack of posters has an impact on election turnout, adding that a study was done in Scotland which showed this. Referring to an email councillors received from Tidy Towns Together, the Green Party councillor said that she didn't think they would, for example, put one poster up in the centre of Blackrock. 

Cllr Butler also mentioned that she agreed with Cllr Sheridan with regards social media and data centres, adding that she was elected in her first election without the use of social media.

Cllr Liam Reilly said that he stood in the last election without using posters or social media. He added that he was a member of Tidy Towns and Louth Tidy Towns Together, and that the request from Tidy Towns was that there be no posters in the centre of villages (within the speed limits) because the judging takes place primarily in June.

Cllr Seán Kelly, along with others, said that the motion comes from a good place, adding that one thing they should ensure they do is to take down the tie wraps when removing the posters after the election.

Following the contributions from the councillors, a roll call vote was taken, with Cllr Maeve Yore and Cllr Bernie Conlon voting for the motion and the other 16 councillors voting against.