Dublin City Council Spend Over €1m A Year Removing ‘Criminal’ Graffiti

Dublin City Council spend a whopping €1m a year on removing illegal graffiti and tags from public buildings.

The have launched a new 'Think Don’t Tag’ campaign, which is being run in partnership with An Garda Síochána to remind people that that tagging and vandalism is a criminal offence.

Speaking to TheJournal.ie, Dublin City Council’s Brian Hanney said of the €1m annual cost that it is "money that could be better spent elsewhere."

He added that is is everywhere, and can be upsetting for propert owners, as well as the graffiti being very difficult to remove from protected buildings such as the GPO and the Ha'Penny Bridge.

Mr Hanney said that: "You’d wake up and come into the city on a Monday morning after the weekend and there would be whole streets and businesses with tags all over them. It can have quite an impact from the business and tourism point of view.

An Garda Síochána has also launched an animated video, called “Graffiti is a Crime, Think Don’t Tag” to raise awareness among school children.