Offaly candidate will put up none or 'few reused' election posters
Green Party's Pippa Hackett considering 'not postering at all'
THE Green Party's candidate in the Offaly constituency will either put up very few posters or none at all in advance of the general election on November 29.
Minister of State Pippa Hackett, a member of Seanad Eireann who unsuccessfully sought a Dail seat in 2020, said that most roads in Offaly have already “been festooned with election posters, sometimes many times by the same candidate within a single stretch of road.”
Minister Hackett said: “As a candidate I have been contacted by a good few Tidy Towns groups asking that no posters are erected within their towns. I understand and will of course respect this, as I hope most other candidates will.”
She added: “I’m even toying with not postering at all, but I don't believe this is the perfect solution. Postering is part and parcel of our democratic process, but this aspect too, like so many others, needs to move with the times.
“I have a growing unease that we are not hitting the balance between informing the electorate vs littering and wasting resources.
“As a councillor in 2019, I first raised the issue of postering, asking that a solution be found. I am in favour of posters as a channel of information but believe that the level of postering seen in recent elections is excessive, wasteful and counterproductive. And due to their financial cost they favour those with the capacity to afford them.”
The Green Party candidate said that in early October she wrote to the chief executive and Cathaoirleach of Offaly County Council regarding preparations for the next general election asking that the council consider introducing designated areas within every town and village for each election candidate to display a poster.
“I believe that a designated area in a public space, with room for one specific sized poster from each candidate, within or along the main thoroughfare or square of a town or village would not only serve the electorate, but also our precious democratic process, better,” she said.
“The location and design of such a site would, of course, require consultation with the local communities as appropriate. As such spaces are very commonly used in other jurisdictions there are plenty of templates to choose from.
“Acknowledging that my most recent attempt to spark action was likely sent too late in the day for this general election, it is disappointing that I have still not received a response to my letter.
“This election is likely to be the most expensive in Irish history after Minister Darragh O’Brien increased thresholds for election spending by almost 30%, with individual candidate spending limits raised to €38,900 in a three-seat constituency.”
She asked voters to ask each candidate how much they have spent on postering and concluded: “For my part, if I do put up posters for my campaign, they will be few, and they will be reused from 2020.”