Last week, it was announced by the Department of the Environment that there would be a crack down on illegal signage. The recession has been a difficulty for many businesses and one of the unwelcome consequences has been an epidemic in illegal signs.
Driving up the country, one sees builders regularly promoted on trailers, usually placed on a farmer’s land, with current offers on houses that are hard to sell. Sometimes the advertisements are on land adjacent to the building sites.
Cars are sold on the side of the road with mobile numbers on them and these are sometimes left on the hard shoulders or breakdown areas. Certainly, in the UK, this would not be tolerated and items, be they signs or cars, would be seized by the authorities and a hefty bill would ensue.
Sometimes, these cars, which can often be seen in the County Waterford area, may not have full title as there could be a bank or credit union loan attached to the vehicle and the owner, who has fallen on hard times, may not be in a position to make the payments. So, as the old saying goes, let the buyer beware.
Other traders sell fruit and vegetables on highways, sometimes in dangerous places on hard shoulders, and they seem to do enough trade to keep them there. We hear much from the Road Safety Authority about other matters yet these vehicles and trade-stands are on the public highway without permission.
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