The Fine Gael presidential candidate, Ms Mary Banotti, yesterday promised to run an environmentally-friendly campaign and called on rival candidates to follow her example by having a poster-free contest.
Speaking at the launch of her no-poster campaign in the north Tipperary village of Terryglass, winner of this year's Tidy Towns Competition, Ms Banotti appealed to her opponents to drop plans for what she feels is a needless poster campaign.
"Posters are necessary in a general election to identify between one candidate and another, but there is no need to have a poster to remind the public who we are. By October 30th we will be as well known to them as their relatives," she said.
"No presidential candidate's cause will be any better served by raining a poster blight down on the highways and byways of the nation. It is still early enough in the campaign to call a halt, and I appeal to the other candidates to join me in this `cleaner campaign' pledge."
The decision not to run a poster campaign, party sources say, was not made on financial grounds as the money which could have been spent on posters will now go elsewhere.
Ms Banotti also urged yesterday that the election itself be fought cleanly by the candidates. Referring to allegations surrounding Ms Adi Roche, Ms Banotti said she had already spoken to the Cork-based Chernobyl campaigner and they agreed that the campaign should be fought hard but fair.
"I do not believe in negative campaigning. I have never engaged in bitter or underhanded electioneering and never would. I spoke to Adi last week and we agreed that the campaign should be run on a clean basis and that's the way I intend to go," Ms Banotti said.
Despite being behind the front-runners, Ms Roche and Prof Mary McAleese, in the only opinion poll of the campaign to date, Ms Banotti is confident she will win the race to Aras an Uachtarain.
"Of course, I think I can do it. I have a job to do which is to get out and meet as many people as I possibly can and that's what I will do," she said.