GETTING rival political parties together to form a government has been proving difficult enough in recent weeks. However, calls are now being made for politicians to cross the divide and come together to tackle a real bind.
And their common foe? Cable ties that have been left all over the county on poles after the removal of election posters.
Councillor James Breen has led the call for something to be done to remove the ties, which he says are still visible all over the county.
“I took down any one I ever put up when I ran for election. What action is being taken to ensure that these are removed?” he asked.
Councillor Ann Norton agreed, adding that the issue of posters being left up by candidates and even election posters re-appearing in previously checked areas is also a concern. The Clare Champion reported last month that Councillor Mary Howard had reported that up to 200 of her election posters were unaccounted for.
Director of services Ger Dollard told the councillors that he agreed with the concerns, saying, “I’ve seen three, four, five, six cable ties on a single pole”. He pointed out that the removal of the cable ties is the responsibility of the election candidate.
“The ones that put up the posters should be the ones to remove them,” he said.
However, he added that it is impossible to identify which cable ties have been left by which candidate. “Often this falls on groups like the Tidy Towns to deal with,” he said.
Mr Dollard called on all candidates who ran for election in the county to come together in a joint effort to remove the cable ties.
“A joint political initiative might be considered targeting the entire county,” he suggested.
Jessica Quinn
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.