Recycling Mary in Cork election

The introduction of the dual mandate was supposed to ban politicians from double jobbing. So the locals in and around Cloyne could be forgiven for being surprised to see President Mary McAleese running for Cork County Council.

The President’s smiling visage appeared on lampposts in the East Cork village, home of the legendary Christy Ring, along with posters of candidates for the Midleton electoral area of Cork County Council and European election candidates.

The mystery was easily solved though without calling in Sherlock Holmes.

Environmentally conscious councillor, Maurice Ahern, was merely recycling posters from previous campaigns, using the backs of material from President McAleese’s 1997 election and those employed in the 2002 general election by his brother, Junior Minister Michael Ahern.

The Fianna Fáil Councillors team pasted on fresh paper posters on to the old plastic and cardboard backings, but his thrifty plan was scuppered when the bad weather stripped off the new skins leaving the President to ‘Build Bridges’ in its wake.