302 Irish street signs to be approved without going through 'normal process'

PLANS by Belfast City Council to erect Irish language street signage in over 300 streets on the Falls Road Gaeltacht Quarter have been welcomed by campaigners.

There are currently 122 streets in the Gaeltacht Quarter already approved, with dual language street signs erected. The remaining 302 streets are to be brought officially into the quarter through the street signage process in one batch.

All houses will receive a letter and if streets opt for a full survey they can do so by notifying the Council.

The report will save Belfast City Council significant time and resources whilst addressing the backlog in applications. It is estimated that this blanket approach will save Belfast City Council over £185,000 when costed against a street-by-street basis for the 302 remaining streets.

Currently there are an estimated 500 applications for dual language English-Irish street signage queued in the Council system. As an illustration of the difficulties facing the system, the Council currently progresses only around six applications per month.

Cuisle Nic Liam, Language Rights Coordinator with Conradh na Gaeilge, said: “Bilingual signage is an internationally recognised measure to ensure increased visibility of the Irish language. That increased visibility leads to increased normalisation of the language and in turn increased tolerance to bilingualism in general.

"Considering over 90 per cent of our place names come directly from Irish, this is a linguistic restorative policy that will see Irish returning to areas and streets where it was previously banned.

"This en bloc policy was brought forward to address the dire waiting times and backlog, with residents potentially waiting up to 10-12 years in the queue of 500 streets awaiting bilingual signage.

"We estimate this will save the Council around £185,000 rather than doing this on a street-by-street basis, whilst clearing the backlog of applications and speeding up the overall process at the same time.

"We look forward to exploring how best to replicate this proposal in other areas with significant concentrations of Irish language speakers both in Belfast and in other Council areas in the coming months.”

Ciarán Mac Giolla Bhéin, Coordinator of Fís an Phobail, the West Belfast Irish Language Plan, added: “According to the latest census figures, West Belfast has one of the highest concentrations of Irish speakers anywhere in Ireland.

"This is evidenced by the amazing growth of our Irish-medium education system and the vibrant community sector that has developed, particularly over the last 20 years. Visibility of the language has, however, been severely limited to that which the community themselves had erected.

"We warmly welcomed the adoption of a much more progressive signage policy by Belfast City Council recently and commend them again for the proposal to fast-track en bloc bilingual signage across the Gaeltacht Quarter.

"This will compliment the dynamic, community-led revival in the area, reinforce positive attitudes in relation to the language and demonstrate that this area has a vibrant bilingual community. It will also help clear the backlog in signage requests and allow council to meet demand across the city for bilingual street signage.

"We want to thank councillors and officials in City Council for implementing this transformational initiative.”

In a public notice in this week’s Andersonstown News/North Belfast News/South Belfast News, Belfast City Council said they are writing to occupiers of each property in the remaining streets within the Gaeltacht Quarter explaining the decision.

“If occupiers are satisfied with this approach, they do not have to do anything. Alternatively, if occupiers wish to object to this approach, they can contact the Council as outlined in the letter,” a City Hall spokesperson said.

"If you do not receive this letter and you wish to make an objection to the approach you can contact the Council on 028 9027 0650 or by emailing gaeltachtquarter@belfastcity.gov.uk to obtain a copy of the letter and the response slip.

“The final date for responses to be received by the Council is 4pm on Friday 23 February 2024. Submissions received after this time will not be considered.”