Dublin City Council investigation into complaints regarding posters put up by a general election candidate on the course of the recent marathon.

As tensions run high between political parties ahead of the expected call of general elections next week, complaints have been made about posters put up by the team of Good Gael general election candidate and Senator Mary Seery Kearney. The posters wished “Dublin City Marathon runners” “good luck”. They had an image of Mrs. Seery Kearney, who urged runners to “keep going, stride by stride,” encouraging them to become “stronger as the miles go by.” They were endorsed by Ms Kearney as a “general election candidate”.

Ms Seery Kearney confirmed she had placed 15 posters along the route, which sparked complaints from other political parties. Election posters can only be installed 30 days before election day. Any electoral poster posted before this date could be punished on the spot with a fine of €150.

A spokesperson for Dublin City Council confirmed it had received “a number of complaints regarding the erection of allegedly illegal posters at several locations along the Dublin Marathon route on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 October. No permission has been granted by Dublin City Council for the installation of these posters. Any poster erected without permission is a breach of section 19 of the Waste Pollution Acts 1997 to 2009. Appropriate enforcement action will be taken following a full investigation.

Ms Seery Kearney said she had “huge respect for the runners and all the small and large charities they support”, saying she “wanted to wish them well and so put up the posters”.

“The Dublin Marathon is run by 22,500 people from all over the world, including residents of Dublin South Central who run for charities large and small, from raising money for defibrillators to charities like Féileacáin. I put up 15 posters in less than 24 hours to encourage them and show my respect and appreciation for their work. It’s not illegal – the rules change from local authority to local authority – for something to be illegal it must be enforced uniformly across the state.