‘I will not back down’ - Hannigan

Seamus Enright

The self-styled 'Pothole Terror' Martin Hannigan has been told he faces jail over his failure to pay a court imposed fine from three years ago.

In late 2015 the Cootehill father-of-six lost his appeal against a conviction and fine handed down in the district court in March the previous year.
Mr Hannigan of Marsyl Lodge, Bough, Cootehill, was subsequently granted 36-months to pay a €200 fine, plus a bill of €1,458.93, the cost of repairing damage caused to the road at Market Street, Cootehill on three dates in June 2013.
“I have not, and I will not pay it,” Mr Hannigan sternly told The Anglo-Celt this week.
He informed the newspaper he was contacted by gardai last week, who said as a result of the non-payment he would be arrested and transferred to Castlerea to serve an as yet unspecified term of imprisonment.
Mr Hannigan’s well-publicised campaign of painting bright paint around potholes in an attempt to shame the local council into fixing them has garnered him national attention in the past.
The conviction upheld in 2015 came after Mr Hannigan was caught painting slogans on the road outside the former town courthouse and council offices.
He was captured on CCTV painting potentially “inflammatory messages”, and during a follow-up search of the defendant's property, paint and other materials were discovered.
His solicitor at the time, Catherine Taffe, informed Judge Aylmer that Mr Hannigan was acting out of frustration caused by circulation of alleged “poison-pen” letters targeting him and his family. Despite several complaints made to gardai, it was accepted Mr Hannigan eventually took matters into his own hands.
The District Court appeal was told the Council had to hire specialised equipment and services to remove Mr Hannigan's painted slogans from the road. It cost €600 on the first attempt to clean the writing, €472.98 on the second, and €358 on the third.
In the end, the company was forced to put more black road markings over the paint and while the lettering remains, it is no longer visible.
“It was templated well. The man has a talent,” solicitor for the State Rory Hayden put to the hearing, to laughter from the court.
Mr Hannigan told the Celt this week: “I feel I was right in doing it, and I feel I don’t owe the man anything. I’m not backing down, and I won’t either,”
However he admits the threat of going behind bars has “put the worry” on him.

“It’s not right, I don’t feel it’s right. I’ve gone through too much I feel. This is just another thing. But I feel I’m in the right doing what I'm doing,” added Mr Hannigan, who estimates having put up to €12,000 of his own money into mounting his running campaign over the years.