Owen Keegan's blanket ban

Dublin City Council (DCC) is: busy censoring the right to "impart information by imposing a ban on the advertising of public events and meetings.

According to Section 19 of the Litter ' Pollution Act, 1997, it is legal to put up posters for public meetings as long as they are removed within seven days. Odd then that DCC's Assistant-City Manager, Owen Keegan, should state in an e-mail (seen by Goldhawk) that, "It is the policy of Dublin City Council not to give permission to any individual or organization to erect posters on. its property [...] except in a limited number of cases which are related to traffic diversions/road works".
This was in response to a request by a Shell to Sea campaigner to publicise a
Demonstration in Dublin in support of the Rossport Five. Keegan went on to warn the campaigner that he had "no legal right" to place posters on DCC property.'" Even more strange is the stance taken by DCC's head of waste management, Tom Loftus, who recently told the Irish Examiner that ''those wanting to ' put up posters must ask permission but that the policy [of •DCC] is to refuse except if they are connected to election campaigns”.
DCC has refused permission for posters for the anti-bin tax, Shell to Sea and Irish Anti-war campaigns. It has also barred Frank McBrearty from advertising a public meeting for his campaign against Garda corruption. The ban was not extended, however, to posters for the Smithfield on Ice event, which the council operates with Bupa Ireland.