New Road Sign introduced in Ireland

On 19 March 2015 Irish government introduced a new 'Slow' sign. This new sign means that on the selected local / rural roads drivers must use their own judgement but must never exceed 80km/h in any case. The proposal is to replace the 80km/h prohibitory sign with this new ‘Rural Speed Limit’.

Although RSA claims that the new sign "is in use internationally under the Vienna signage convention" [1], it's purpose is misinterpreted. In other European countries this sign means "the end of all prohibitions" and is placed to mark the end of enforcement of Prohibitory signs such as no overtaking, roadworks, reduced speed limit, etc. However, in Ireland, the meaning of the new sign is ambiguous: is it to restrict the speed (should be Prohibitory type - round with a red border), or to warn drivers or road condition (should be Warning type - triangular with red border), or to make driver aware of change of road type to Local Roads (should be Special Regulation type - square on a blue background).

Despite an apparent uniformity and standardisation, European traffic signs present relevant differences between countries. However most European countries refer to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals — adopted in Europe by Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine. The convention has not been adopted in Ireland, Moldova, Spain, and the UK. [2]

Just like the rules of the road, Irish road signs lack consistency, misses the overall picture, and leaves unanswered questions. Seeing how it was unveiled, a thought persists that the introduction was driven more by political agenda than science, conventions and common sense. Perhaps politicians are still haunted by 2002 road sign fiasco. [3] So, exactly how slow is Slow - it's pretty big range from 20 to 80 km/h? Why not use Recommended Speed sign (white numbers on a square blue background)? How is the end of Local Roads signposted? Technically, the speed limit has not changed, as long as one is doing under 80km/h the driver is not breaking the law - how is the new sign going to be enforced? Are we back to catch-all 'Dangerous Driving'? Instead of an introduction of yet another ambiguous sign, the rules of the road, including road signage should be brought up to European standard.