BRADLEY BYTES: What do Bye-Election posters tell us about Galway West candidates?
As soon as the writ for the Galway West Bye-Election was moved last week, posters appeared across the constituency. We’ve long argued here that posters are an essential tool for informing the public during elections, but what do the posters say about the candidates?
Dressed in a blue shirt – but of course! – with the top button open and without a jacket or tie, Seán Kyne has gone for a casual look.
The Fine Gael logo is small – very small – indicating that association with the party of Government is not an electoral asset.
His friend and former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar annoyed everyone last week with sloppy commentary on the urban/rural divide but Kyne’s posters appeal to both: City posters have Long Walk in the backdrop while in country areas have Conamara stone walls.
Some Kyne posters use maroon of Galway GAA, and the slogan ‘dearfach í leith na Gaillimhe’ which ticks the Irish language box, and tries to appeal to voters who are happy with their lot and dislike negative campaigning. A smile rather than smirk would have helped.
Fianna Fáil candidate Cillian Keane’s posters – with a smile head against the backdrop of his native Oranmore – do not big up the Government party affiliation either.
Keane is the youngest Councillor on Galway County Council but he’s dressed in a full suit and tie to emphasise that, despite the ‘baby-face’, he is a serious politician.
Kyne’s posters don’t mention that he’s a senator but Keane’s include “Cllr” to counter perceptions of inexperience.
A big happy head on Orla Nugent, of Aontú, which is spelled using the colours of the Irish tricolour. The emphasis is on Nugent rather than Orla, with a nod to Gaeilge with “Vótáil” included.
In contrast, Míde Nic Fhionnlaoich goes bigger on the Míde than the Nic Fhionnlaoich. Maybe, like Bertie (Ahern) she wants to be on first-name terms with voters. It’s possible that the surname is just too long to make as big as the Míde but it's more likely she’s emphasised Míde because most voters will struggle to pronounce Nic Fhionnlaoich. The headshot is large – wise for a first-time candidate lacking voter-recognition – with the purple party’s trademark colour to underline the Social Democrat brand.
Sinn Féin’s Mark Lohan, like Kyne, chose the clichéd Galway backdrop of Long Walk, and as expected from a Republican, the words in his posters are a combination of green, white and orange.
Lohan, smiling in a suit, shirt and tie, added a slogan, “Make life affordable” indicating the main party of Opposition is wooing voters struggling with rising costs.
The clash of Helen Ogbu’s orange jacket against the traditional red of the Labour Party is slightly jarring but her posters stand out. There appears to be a (n AI-generated?) crowd of people behind the “Cllr”, and she’s adopted that clever slogan “Gaillimh Ogbu” – a play on Gaillimh Abú – and turned it into a hashtag for people to search online.
Sheila Garrity, perched along one of the city canals, uses purple, green and white in a bilingual poster with the slogan “Galway’s Independent Voice” and “Glór neamhspléach do Ghaillimh”, which gives Catherine Connolly vibes.
Green Party candidate Niall Murphy’s posters are – surprise, surprise – green although the party logo is quite small. It’s hard to be certain but in keeping with the party’s environmental credentials Murphy’s posters look recycled from previous elections.
Hopefully we don’t get the weather Denman Rooke is expecting – the bearded People Before Profit candidate is well wrapped up in a grey scarf and black beanie hat. There are two slogans, “Make the Government Pay”, (they want voters to punish the Government or is that an unintentional insight into the Left’s solution to everything?!) and “demand a Galway we can live in”, a nod to the housing and cost-of-living crises.
Mike Cubbard is not using traditional posters on poles but has 20 4X4 signs erected at busy junctions. They show the candidate in a suit and tie, with “Cubbard” but no “Councillor” or first name, or information that he is an Independent. They do contain the Trumpian “Galway first” slogan in English and Irish.
Tom Welby posters are also not plentiful in the city but supporters are seen on social media holding simple green, white, grey and blue posters with a large surname, “Vote 1”, “Cllr” and “Independent” included.
Noel Thomas’s posters lean heavily on well-known Independent Ireland colleagues, rather than party brand.
This is understandable given Independent Ireland is only three years old and not as identifiable as former RTÉ correspondent turned MEP, Ciarán Mullooly, and Roscommon Galway TD, Michael Fitzmaurice, whose images on the posters are as prominent as the candidate’s and far bigger than the party logo. Interestingly that the marmite party leader Michael Collins was not included. The Cllr’s slogan is self-explanatory: “A strong voice for Galway”.