No candidate to top the pole in Newmarket

PRESIDENTIAL candidate Michael D Higgins may have lived in the Newmarket on Fergus parish for 14 years but even that connection won’t convince the local Tidy Towns committee to erect an election poster depicting the would-be Labour Party president or indeed that of his six rivals.

For 13 years, the committee, a sub-committee of Obair, has imposed a local ban on election posters for local, general and now presidential elections. However, the upcoming election is the first presidential election to be held since the poster ban was imposed.
Pat Cronin, manager of Obair in Newmarket, said the Tidy Towns committee made the decision because the posters made the village look untidy. 
“They felt that the place looked terribly tacky and the posters weren’t being taken down. So they adopted a no-posters policy,” he explained.
Mr Cronin acknowledged the approach has no basis in law.
“Technically, we have no legal standing. But the county council has never said anything to us with regard to taking them down. We deal with the individual [election candidate] as we see them,” he added.
This week, the Tidy Towns committee in Newmarket will pen a letter to all seven candidates, informing them of the futility of any potential pole-climbing in the mid-Clare village.
“We’ll take it down, mind it and give it back to them. If there’s an election, we always write to the candidates in our region and tell them about our no-posters policy. We’re only after getting the candidates now but we’ll write to them and say it to them. We don’t show any favouritism to anyone. We’re not a political organisation. We’re here to look after our community,” Pat Cronin said.
He feels election candidates don’t need to erect posters for publicity purposes.
“Sure, they have enough publicity. They were on Prime Time and they’re on The Late Late this week. What the hell do they need posters for? Also I maintain that if they have that kind of money, the poster money should go to a charitable organisation before Christmas,” he suggested.
Clare Labour TD Michael McNamara had to desist from putting up posters of his own during this year’s General Election campaign.
“At the very beginning of my campaign, my supporters were putting up posters and somebody politely told them there was a ban on posters in Newmarket-on-Fergus,” the Labour TD told The Clare Champion.
However, Deputy McNamara has no issue with the ban and feels it won’t damage Michael D Higgins’ chances of garnering votes in Newmarket.
“It’s a very legitimate position for any community to take. As to how it will affect Michael D? I don’t think it will have any detrimental effect on his campaign. Nobody in Clare needs to be told about Michael D’s Clare roots. Everybody’s aware of them and certainly in Newmarket, everybody is aware of Michael D’s Newmarket roots and his family members still living there,” he said.
“If anything, the ban on posters will more negatively affect people who may not be as well known around Clare or around Newmarket-on-Fergus in particular,” Deputy McNamara added.
In the 2011 Tidy Towns results, Newmarket-on-Fergus achieved 256 points from a possible 400 marks. This represented an increase of two points on their 2010 results.