Trader's fury over 'destroyed' signs
ROADSIDE BANNERS REMOVED BY COUNCIL
Michael Ryan with one of his signs.
A BUSINESSMAN has slammed Wexford County Council for not supporting local businesses in hard times after advertising road signage, he claims he had permission to erect, were taken down and destroyed by the local authority last week.
Michael Ryan from Ryan Golf and Sports in Woodbine Business Park in New Ross says he is now counting his losses after he spent €1,000 on three large banners, advertising his January sale, only to have two of them taken down by the council the day after they were erected on the town's main roads.
According to Michael he received permission from a council employee the week before erecting the signs and placed one 6 x 4 foot sign on the Waterford Road, another at Knockmullen and a third across the road from Tesco.
However, the following day he discovered the signs at Knockmullen and the Waterford Road were taken down by the council while the other sign outside Tesco was vandalised and thrown in the shrubbery.
'I had made an agreement with the council that if there was a problem with the signs I would take them down. Nobody said anything to me so I assumed they were ok...the reason I asked the council (for permission) is that I didn't want the signs out there if I was doing wrong,' explained Michael.
'If I had to know this was going to happen I wouldn't have spent all that money on getting the signs made up,' he said, adding that next to where his signs were erected other signs were left untouched.
On Thursday Michael made contact with the council in a bid to get his signs back, however on Friday evening he was informed they were 'destroyed'.
A spokesperson for Wexford County Council explained this week that the signs were taken away as they were 'illegal'. The council explained the signs were too big and are not permitted on national roads and that is why they were taken down. In explaining why the signs would have been destroyed the spokesperson outlined that due to their size they had to be taken apart to be placed into a van.
'The council is not helping local businesses in hard times. I am trying to promote a sale and drum up business...i'm out of pocket now and the sale has gone downhill since the signs are off the road,' said Michael, who says he is now going to file a claim with the local authority for loss of earnings over this incident and the loss incurred in creating the signs.
'I feel very strongly about this....things are so tough with everyone. Retailers are all in trouble and all we need is a little help from council and they are sort of going against us,' added Michael.
- ELAINE FURLONG
