Parties are breaking agreed rules on postering

Most of the main political parties have broken a "gentleman's agreement" with Dublin City Council by putting up election posters ahead of the specified period.

Individual Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Green and Sinn Féin candidates all started postering in the city last week, before the period specified in a code of practice agreed with the council.

A council spokesman said its staff had already taken down a number of Fine Gael posters which had been put up ahead of the agreed dates and in city areas which are designated poster-free.

Under the code, posters must not be erected earlier than 28 days before the local election date (next Friday) and 35 days before the European Parliament election date (last Saturday).

Posters must not be placed on traffic signal poles and pedestrian bridges, as well as on O'Connell Street, Henry Street, Merrion Square, Fitzwilliam Square, Mountjoy Square and Grafton Street. Only two posters per pole are permitted.

While EU election posters are now permitted under the code of practice, many were in place before last Saturday's threshold.

The early appearance of posters has led to an outbreak of inter-candidate finger-pointing, with several parties accusing their rivals of breaking the rules.

Finglas PD candidate Mr Paul McAuliffe accused Sinn Féin's Ms Mary Lou McDonald of a "blatant disregard for the law" for erecting her Euro election posters last week.

In Clontarf, however, independent councillor Fintan Cassidy said his PD and Green rivals had jumped the gun by starting their postering campaigns early. "This is highly unfair. I'm on a low budget, with a limited amount of posters, but by the time I get to putting them up all the prime spots will be gone."

Labour councillor Orla Farrell also complained yesterday about PD postering in the Clontarf area, saying the party should have to pay for the cost of removing them.

Council spokesman Mr Hugh Fahy said any offending posters would be removed.

The council's aim was to minimise the litter caused by election postering and to reduce their visual impact, particularly in city centre areas.

However, politicians who break the code of practice are unlikely to face any sanction. While there are fines of up to €125 a day for candidates who fail to remove their posters within seven days of polling day, there doesn't appear to be any penalty for those who jump the gun by postering too early. For the first time, the council is providing a removal and recycling service for candidates, at a cost of €300 per local election candidate and €3,000 per European election candidate.

The council has also advised candidates to take out public liability insurance, saying it will not entertain claims for damages arising from the display or removal of the posters.

Labour European election candidate Ms Ivana Bacik has expressed dismay at racist graffiti that defaced one of her posters at the weekend. "Foreign scum go home" was scrawled on a bus shelter poster on the Malahide Road in Dublin.

Ms Bacik, whose grandfather came to Ireland from the Czech Republic after the second World War, stated: "I'm deeply dismayed at this racist graffiti."