Council removes sign in Mayo pointing way to Sam to avoid ‘confusion’

Fake road sign erected overnight in Castlebar removed by local authority

A local authority has 'sin-binned' a road sign indicating the route to the Sam Maguire Cup for the success-starved Mayo senior football team.

On Friday morning, Mayo County Council removed the sign which had been added to existing official road signage at the N5 roundabout in Castlebar, citing the potential for it to cause confusion and compromise road safety.

The identity of those responsible for erecting the sign remains unknown.

Independent County Councillor Michael Kilcoyne said whoever thought of the sign was "ingenious", adding that it " looks just like the real thing".

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However, Mayo County Council was less impressed. In a statement, it said the sign has been removed in the interests of road safety.

“In general, signs are not permitted to be erected without permits/planning permission.

"However, for special events like the All Ireland Final, the local authority will not remove signs, provided they are not erected on the roundabout centre, or islands, and do not interfere with vision, are secured properly, and are removed promptly afterwards.

“Any signs attached to road signage will be removed as this may cause confusion to drivers, and interfere with road safety”.

Mayo are due to contest the All-Ireland football final against either Tyrone or Kerry in Croke Park on September 11th. The team's opponents in the final will be decided this weekend as Tyrone take on Kerry in the twice postponed other semi-final.