Madam, - I have to disagree strongly with the comments by Noel Whelan with regard to Minister for the Environment John Gormley's plans to restrict postering during election time (Opinion, July 26th). Mr Whelan uses the argument that election posters add "colour" to an otherwise dreary election.
A similar view was voiced by opposition spokespersons, who claimed that postering adds "razzmatazz" to election time.
Such statements come from the same school of thought that proposes lotto tickets or raffle prizes to encourage voting - in other words, forget about encouraging democratic participation by educating the electorate or developing a transparent political process, but instead encourage it by debasing the democratic system to the point where it resembles the worst aspects of our superficial society.
Another claim made is that postering restrictions would unfairly advantage incumbent politicians. However, Mr Whelan should be aware that, at a minimum, a local election candidate would need to splash out €2,000 on postering alone.
Dáil candidates would need to spend up to €5,000. Surely the requirement to raise such sums of money to participate in elections constitutes a gross distortion of the democratic system and must be urgently addressed.
Finally, Mr Whelan claims that my party opposes postering for some ideological reason. I suggest a second, more selfish, reason for our stance: as a cash-poor party, we are unable to contract out the erecting of these election posters to professionals.
Instead, the task falls upon ordinary party members like myself. From last year's election I have vivid memories of delicately balancing myself on a rickety ladder against a 30ft high lamp post on Salthill promenade, one hand positioning the poster and the other clinging to said lamppost for dear life on that windy Sunday morning in May.
Were Mr Whelan to find himself in a similar position, I imagine his views on election posters would be decidedly more advanced. - Yours, etc,
ANDREW MURPHY, Deputy National Co-ordinator, Green Party/Comhaontas Glas, Knocknacarra, Galway.