Galway must look its best during the Volvo Ocean Race and if politicians care about how the city will look to the world during May, they will voluntarily agree to no election posters anywhere in the city.
This is the view of Independent Cllr Donal Lyons. At next Monday’s Galway City Council meeting, he will call for a “voluntary ban on all political posters in the city area for the forthcoming Local and European elections”.
Cllr Lyons said that the coming of the Volvo Ocean Race to Galway is an opportunity for the city to show itself off the city to the world and potentially attract tourism.
“The city must look as spick and span as possible and election posters would not help that,” Cllr Lyons told the Galway Advertiser. “During the last election there were five, six, seven posters on every lamppost on the prom. Some were hanging off and some were so low you’d nearly hit yourself off them. I don’t think we would endear ourselves to the public if we did the same this time around.”
If Cllr Lyons’ motion is passed, the ban would be voluntary and up to each party and candidate to decide if it/they would display posters or not.
“I don’t think there is anything that can make a ban compulsory,” he said. “No one is breaking any law by putting them up. I don’t believe we could bring in bylaws in time, so what you are looking at is for people to be up front and honest and undertake a voluntary ban.”
Cllr Lyons motion has received the backing of Green Cllr Niall Ó Brolcháin and of Green candidates James Hope and Máiréad Ní Chróinín.
The Greens agree with Cllr Lyons that “the posters would be a blight” on the city during the Volvo Ocean Race.
“The Volvo Ocean Race is a chance to promote Galway as both a tourist destination, and as a potential host for future similar events,” said Ms Ní Chróinín. “To have every lamppost and telephone pole in the city plastered with multiple election posters when the Race is here can only damage that.”
Cllr Niall Ó Brolcháin praised Cllr Lyons for his courage in proposing the motion.
“Donal Lyons has really put himself out there on this,” he said. “It is the right thing to do and I'll be voting for the ban. I hope the other councillors would support this unanimously, and that the other candidates will agree too.”
Fine Gael Cllr Brian Walsh and Independent Cllr Terry O’Flaherty also favour the ban. The organisers of the race have also requested a voluntary ban on posters during the race’s stop-over in Galway.
However it is understood that Labour has its posters printed already and is therefore not keen on the ban.
