Dublin City Council's litter wardens will continue to remove posters erected by the Stop Bush Campaign even though the group insists it has registered as a 'third party' for electoral purposes, and is legally entitled to display them.
The Stop Bush Campaign's poster
The campaign, an alliance of anti-war groups and individuals, said this morning it had registered with the Standards in Public Office Commission for the upcoming elections to evade a ban on postering. However, when it emerged this afternoon that the council will continue to remove the posters, the Stop Bush group said it may consider legal action to prevent this.
A new anti-litter policy was adopted by Dublin City Council in January forbidding the erection of posters or notes in the city, but election posters are exempt from the rule for certain time periods.
Mr Richard Boyd Barrett of the Irish Anti-War Movement said the ban on putting up advertisements by Dublin City Council and neighbouring authorities was affecting a protest planned for later this month against US president Mr George W. Bush's visit to Ireland for a summit.
"We are seeking to get around this ban by having the Stop Bush campaign registered. This is an unprecedented action, as no one has ever registered in an election campaign outside the political parties in the campaign," said Mr Barrett.
However, a spokesman for Dublin City Council later told ireland.comthe litter warden had been removing the posters and will continue to do so. "She is aware they have registered as a political party but they will continue to be taken down. Her stance is that they have to be running in the election and because they are not, the posters will continue to be taken down," he said.
Reacting to the news, Mr Barrett said the Dublin City Council decision was "an absolutely outrageous attack on civil liberties". He said his group would have to consider its response and would consult with its legal advisers. He did not rule out the option of seeking an injunction to prevent the council removing the posters.
"We have always abided by the law and worked within the Litter Act and the legislation governing elections. We have been arguing for some time that the Ahern Government has been engaging in a systematic campaign to avoid a repetition of last year's protest against the war when 100,000 protested on the streets of Dublin."
The Stop Bush Campaign says that as it is registered as a 'third party', it is entitled to run a campaign for or against any political party or candidate and must also declare its donations to the Standards in Public Office Commission.
A spokesman for the Department of the Environment said that while the legislation did not actually state that a political party had to have candidates in an election in order to put up posters, the Dublin City Council interpretation was probably correct. The Stop Bush posters had nothing to do with the elections, he said.
The relevant legislation is section 19 of the Litter Pollution Act 1997.
The Stop Bush group today urged the electorate to vote against parties who they claim are supporting the war and allowing Shannon airport to be used as a stopover for US military personnel en route to Iraq.
The group is hoping 100,000 people will turn out for protests throughout the State, including at Dromoland Castle in Co Clare, the venue for the EU-US summit Mr Bush is to attend.