Politicians up the poles before we head to the polls
NO sooner had the word ‘election’ passed from the lips of An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, than there were armies of ladder wielding volunteers slapping huge posters up on poles at prime locations around our towns and villages.
While the presence of election posters irks the vast majority of the general public, they are seen as a necessary evil and over the next few weeks we better had get used to seeing airbrushed versions of the candidates in a variety of different poses. Dilemmas to be considered are - ‘Do I wear a tie to show I mean business, or an open collar to show I’m a chilled out man of the people?’; ‘Do I wear the party colours, or something different to stand out against the background?’ or ‘How much make-up is too much?’ - that last one goes for the gentlemen as well as the ladies!
Regardless - these issues seem to have been put to bed long before the election was called for the vast majority as they were ready to rock and roll from the moment the polling day was set. Marking his territory, Brendan Howlin’s posters were on polls in a flash, while similarly in Gorey Michael D’Arcy wasted no time in getting his face on the poles, even recruiting Wexford football legend Mattie Forde to climb ladders for him.
While he may have taken slightly longer to make up his mind, independent candidate Ger Carthy had his supporters out very early to ensure prime billing in the Rosslare area, while Fianna Fáil’s James Browne mounted the ladder himself in Enniscorthy, taking time to point out that ‘over 75%’ of his posters are reused from previous elections and ‘some are even being used for the fifth time’.
People Before Profit’s Deirdre Wadding was also recycling posters from the last time she ran, reasoning that they were no worse for the environment erected on poles than they were sitting in her shed. Wexford was also inundated with posters of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, which bizarrely don’t even mention either of the party’s candidates.
While in the next few days, there’s almost certain to be some kind of spat involving disappearing/obstructed election posters, let’s enjoy the initial harmony. Love them or hate them, the posters are here to stay and there’ll probably be some candidates who you’ll be sick of the sight of by the time you reach the polling booth.