Pothole campaigner faces prison if he continues to paint the road

A Cavan man who has waged a 25-year campaign against the local authority over the county’s potholes has been ordered not to paint on the roads for the next two years or he will face three months in prison.

Martin Hannigan, a father of six, is well known for daubing yellow paint around the offending holes.

However, during a recent appearance in Cavan District Court to face two charges of criminal damage to Market St in Cootehill in June, the judge asked him would he be willing to enter a bond to keep the peace for two years, part of which meant he could not paint on the roads for that period.

He was also ordered to pay over €1,400 towards the cost of repairing the road surface and fined €200. If he fails to honour the bond, he could face three months in prison. Yesterday, Mr Hannigan said he had done nothing wrong and said he would be “back in force”.

In 2009, he was given the benefit of the Probation Act for damaging a public road belonging to Cavan County Council and erecting signs without lawful authority.

During that sitting, he gave an undertaking that he would desist from such activity in the future.