Mystery surrounds Mayo poster vandalism

Mystery surrounds damage caused to large election posters along the N60 road between Balla and Castlebar in the Manulla and Breaffy areas. The damage was carried out on Saturday night/Sunday morning May 25/26 and the culprits have not been identified. The damage affected posters of MEP Maria Walsh of Fine Gael, Councillor Cyril Burke (also of Fine Gael,) and Sinn Fein's first-time candidate, Donna Hyland. Ms Hyland's husband, Seán, who is also her Director of Elections told The Mayo News that he didn't know who did the damage, but it wasn't the first time it has happened.

"The one on the Breaffy road from Castlebar has been damaged four times," Sean said. "The damage isn't exclusive to Sinn Fein posters. There were also posters damaged near Balla mart. I picked a lot of them up; they were all over the place on Sunday morning. I discovered them in the morning - I go out for a look because Saturday night seems to be the night they get smashed up. Three of Donna's were damaged at Balla mart and one in Manulla and one in Breaffy.”

The posters, which are made from corrugated plastic, seemed to be cut with a carpet knife because the cut edge was clean.

“They left a screwdriver after them, so they must have used that too,” Mr Hyland said. “The ones in Breaffy were done with some sort of vengeance, because they were cut and broken up in bits. There was malicious intent behind it. Sometimes vandals would bend or break a poster, or disfigure them with paint or a marker, but these required more effort. I know some people don’t like posters, but most election posters are recycled by farmers, or reused for other purposes.”

Cllr Burke said it wasn’t the first election this happened in.

“It has happened in other elections,” he told The Mayo News. “My posters were fairly low to the ground and an easy target. Posters up on poles and out of reach, don’t seem to have been targeted. The culprit seems to have chosen posters in remote areas, as opposed to in towns, where there was a better chance of being caught. A lot of posters were damaged at the entrance to Balla Mart and in Clogher also. Whoever did it came prepared – they used some sort of blade or knife - and didn’t just target my posters. I see posters of other candidates and parties damaged as well. It’s probably someone who isn’t fond of the democratic system that we have in this country.”

MEP Walsh’s representative said the candidate had no comment to make. Castlebar Garda said they were unable to confirm or deny if a complaint had been made.