Poster removal ‘attack on democratic process’

A number of people have contacted the current Deputy Mayor of Craigavon to make him aware of the attack on his election campaign, and he has moved to retrieve the poster.

He said: “Poster wars are part and parcel of electioneering, and it’s something you have to live with, but clearly this attack on my campaign is an attack on the democratic process of elections.

“In the last week we have heard the Alliance Party claiming they were the only party who had their posters removed from lampposts. Obviously there will always be individuals who disagree with your politics, but that doesn’t mean they have to remove your posters or interfere with them in any way.

“Aaron Carson and I have got our local campaign off to a great start and Jim Nicholson was in Lurgan last Saturday supporting us, and this has obviously annoyed others who have gone out of their way to stifle our campaign.

“I would call on everyone involved in this election to play fair, and not to interfere with posters, or any other election material.”

He added: “Personally I would like to see election posters banned completely, as not only are they very costly, for some people they are a real turn-off from politics.

“If we can ban them along the route of the Giro D’Italia, we can ban them permanently, and I would call on the Environment Minister to move to have a ban in place before the Westminster elections in 2015.

“If the Assembly is not prepared to do it, maybe the new Super Council with its enhanced powers can ban them in the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon area.”