selling papers at traffic lights .

Can anybody tell me why the likes of the herald are allowed to sell there product at traffic lights etc. surley in this day and age of internet,news to mobile,radio,t.v. etc and of course a newsagent shop on every corner that tony o riellys company are free to trade where ever they like .if i was to try sell my product at every traffic light or anywhere else for that matter ,im sure id be hit with a flood of red tape.(not that i want to )but it drives me mad to see all these posters for the herald stapled to the bollards shouting out the latest "news" and the poor guys and girls who have to hock the papers in all sorts of weather,are they being covered under employment rights ,minimun wage ,etc.or is this cleverly got arround by saying their sub contractors . shame on the herald i say ! read the herald today and look at the papers the previous two days and you will see the news is two days old .what a rag !

There is a similar situation in Cork whereby people sell The Evening Echo at Traffic Lights around the city. I think this is considered a tradition in Cork and if any politician tried to ban it then he might face the electoral wrath of the masses. Not to mention the bad press they would receive from the newspapers themselves so it would be considered a bad move for someone to speak out.
As with all 'news'papers, now they have been left in the halfpenny place for first class news and people now buy newspapers for opinion and reviews. The days of newspapers "Breaking News" are long gone.
I am not sure if you can blame Independent News and Media or its organ The Herald for people selling newspaper at traffic lights. As a kid I sold The Echo at the traffic lights outside the CUH Hospital (the old Regional Hospital) in Wilton but I was "employed" by a newsagent as opposed to The Evening Echo. I received the princely sum of 2p for every Echo I sold at 26p. That was 1984 and even then traffic was heavy and I had a few close calls.

Not to mention said newspaper also has children!! indirectly working for them and this also does not seem to be an issues. Guards and the public pass 10 year old kids selling Heralds on the top of Meath Street and in Ballymun everyday. Is it going to take a 10 year old getting run over before this has any attention paid to it?

monkeyboy said:

Not to mention said newspaper also has children!! indirectly working for them and this also does not seem to be an issues. Guards and the public pass 10 year old kids selling Heralds on the top of Meath Street and in Ballymun everyday. Is it going to take a 10 year old getting run over before this has any attention paid to it?

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Have you considered formally reporting it to the relevant authorities, such as the Gardai or the Dept of Enterprise employment inspectors?

There is a health and safety aspect to this also - I walk past the same woman handing out free Herald AMs on the N11 every day - she is standing in the middle of the road as traffic moves on either side of her - very dangerous..

There are risks attached to this kind of trade, but it seems harmless enough apart from its impact on newsagencies that pay their full share of rates and taxes. I have a slight problem with it from this point of view.

On a related topic, why is it that some companies have their (illegal) advertising banners removed from motorway bridges by the council, but the contractors who built the bridges are allowed to have their names stuck on them for decades? If these bridges were to have any signage on them, it should surely only relate to the name of the road that they carry and could thus serve a useful purpose. Knowing that Sisk or Ascon built a bridge ten years ago is of no use to me if I am a stranger trying to map-read my way out of Dublin around the M50.

i know in some countries the street trading is really bad. Its almost possible to do one's entire shopping without leaving the car! I've seen mobile phones for sale, clothes hangers, bin bags, sunglasses , fizzy drinks just about anything. I Dont want to give away to many ideas.

I woildn't consider this type of activity as 'harmless', I witnessed an accident on the dual carriageway outside the square in Tallaght some years ago. A young boy of about 14 who was selling papers was knocked down and seiously injured by a lorry. I had nightmares about it for a long time afterwards. I tried to help but he had severe head injuries. I don't know whether he survived or not.