Relatives of missing people have criticised a new policy by Dublin City Council which forbids the erection of posters or notices on lamps, poles or other street furniture in the city.
According to advertisements in Thursday's newspapers, the council will remove posters and take prosecutions under the Litter Act where appropriate.
However, Father Aquinas Duffy, who runs the www.missing.ws website, said the ruling was "quite extraordinary and very unfortunate".
After contacting gardaí, the first thing many relatives did was to erect posters seeking help in finding the missing person. If the Act was implemented as outlined by the council, these families could be prosecuted for trying to find their loved ones, he said.
Under the Litter Act, on-the-spot fines of €125 can be issued, while prosecutions have resulted in fines of up to €1,904 and costs.
"How could they do that?" Father Duffy asked. "It seems like an extraordinary thing to do." He could see the point in cleaning up the city but there should be some recognition of the difference between advertising a music event and seeking important information to trace a missing person. "It really is a matter of life and death," he said.
Father Duffy called on the council to make an exception for notices about missing people, or to facilitate them in some other way.
Election posters will be exempt from the new rule as long as they are erected and removed within the specified time frame.
Mr Owen Keegan of Dublin City Council said the council was taking this action to clean up the city environment. "We've got a lot of complaints about the place being plastered with posters. It's inconsistent with our objective of improving the general environment of our city."
He said people would have to look at other methods of outdoor advertising. The erection of temporary signs for exhibitions, roadworks or diversions will still be allowed by the council, subject to approval.
The new rule will not affect the advertising of music and other events on hoardings. This is done with the permission of Dublin City Council on certain sites.
