Bray local election candidates face fines of €150 for breach of ‘poster-free zones’

Bray Tidy Towns has issued some guidelines to ask new candidates, and those running again, to limit the number of posters they display to just 50 per candidate, while also adhering to a poster-free zone around the town.

Councillor Aoife Flynn-Kennedy remarked how postering was “a difficult issue for candidates and there are lots of views for and against”, but added that they are also a “really important way of letting people know that you are putting yourself before your community for election”.

“This may not be necessary if you have been a councillor for many many years, but if you are a new candidate, or relatively new, it is important,” she pointed out, while adding that the guidelines are a good way to minimise the impact of the posters while still providing candidates with a chance to get their names out.

“I have committed to this request and have briefed my poster team. If there are any mistakes made in error please do not hesitate to let me know and I’ll get it addressed immediately,” she said.

Meanwhile, despite being a new election candidate, Ciarán Hogan, who is running in Bray East for Aontú, said he had reservations over the posters and their visual impact in the town.

"Along with the expected anxiety and self-consciousness of putting a 4 foot by 2 foot portrait of yourself in the public areas you live, work and raise children, there are many other concerns that posters raise,” he said.

"When the starting pistol of midnight on Wednesday, May 8 was fired, I and many other candidates and volunteers started climbing ladders far beyond a comfortable height to ensure these posters were in good vantage points around the town. This work continued in every usable pole far into the small hours of the night to the collective ire of our partners and families.

“I am more acutely aware of the dangers of postering than many; during the 2020 General Election it was my good friend and party colleague, Seamus Connor, who fell from a ladder and broke some bones in his arm. Needless to say that thought was with me on every climb and I have thankfully not fallen...yet, at least.”

The Road Traffic Acts contain requirements in relation to maintaining clear lines of sight for road users, so posters are forbidden at traffic junctions or on roundabouts where they may cause road safety risks. This also applies to footpaths, where pedestrians, with or without prams/buggies and wheelchair users may have difficulty negotiating obstructions.

Any election posters in breach of the legislation are subject to €150 fines. The restrictions on posters in Bray applies to Main Street, Quinsborough Road, Florence Road, and the Strand Road only.