Outrage as council removes good wishes signage to Paralympian Mark Rohan

"Disgraceful" and "ridiculous" is how a local councillor has described a decision by the council to remove a number of good luck signs around Athlone in support of Paralympian Mark Rohan because they did not have the required permission. Speaking yesterday (Tuesday) Sinn Féin's Paul Hogan said he was very disappointed and perplexed to find that a number of local signs put up by businesses to wish Mark Rohan good luck in London were taken down in recent days by Athlone Town Council because they were unauthorised. "It's ridiculous. It reflects terribly on the town. In Bray and Mullingar signs were rightly put up. The town should be full of colour, bunting and flags everywhere," Cllr Hogan said ahead of the Ballinahown native's bid for gold today (Wednesday) in Paralympics and again on Friday. He said he was aware of a number of signs that were taken down from various locations in Athlone. Cllr Hogan also had two of his own signs wishing Mark Rohan and Damien Shaw the best of luck in London removed from two approach roads. He complained at Monday's meeting of Athlone Town Council that signage supporting the Garrycastle team earlier this year or the Westmeath Rose Aisling Baker in the Rose of Tralee, just weeks ago was left untouched. "It's disgraceful that the people of the town cannot send best wishes to Mark," Cllr Hogan fumed, adding for this to happen before one of the biggest events in the world was even more regrettable when the town and the council should be showing its support for Mark Rohan. However, he is hopeful that the council will alter its stance and allow the signage go back up in the next day or so following some discussions with the executive following Monday's meeting. A homecoming function for the World Champion hand cyclist is planned by the council next Tuesday in Athlone. Taking down signage supporting Mark Rohan in the Paralympics didn't reflect well on the council, Cllr Alan Shaw agreed at Monday's council meeting, calling for an explanation and what the procedure is for erecting signage to ensure this situation doesn't arise again. In response to the complaints, Director of Services in the Athlone Area Barry Kehoe explained at the meeting that there is no issue with signage but all signs require approval prior to erection. They can constitute a hazard or be unsightly, Mr Kehoe pointed out, although he said that he was not saying that was the case with these particular signs. "There is no difficulty if it goes up in an appropriate place. If people want to put up a sign then they need to contact the Town Clerk up to the games and after," Mr Kehoe highlighted. Signage should contribute to the atmosphere of the town though and shouldn't be commercial, he stressed. In a written statement issued to the Westmeath Independent prior to Monday's council meeting, the local authority pointed out that signage erected on road verges is illegal under the litter acts, road acts and planning and can have serious impacts in terms of appearance, Tidy Towns etc. "Some weeks up to 50 signs are removed by the council at significant cost. The vast bulk of these signs are business advertising. In order to cater for advertising of community events etc. Athlone Town Council erected a numbers of boards on the approach roads to Athlone town and put systems in place for authorisation to utilise these boards. The general policy that applies is that all council staff are on ongoing instruction to remove all unauthorised signage erected on the road verges. If these signs were unauthorised they were probably removed by the Council," the statement concluded.