North Belfast Irish street signs survey to go ahead after DUP fails to block move

The DUP have failed in blocking two North Belfast streets from being surveyed for future Irish signage.

At a Belfast City Council committee meeting this week the party argued the proximity of potential new Irish signage to a girl’s secondary school would have an impact on “good relations” in the Cliftonville area of North Belfast.

Applications have been placed for Irish street signs at Cardigan Drive and Dunblane Avenue, the latter being close to Belfast Model School for girls, a non-denominational school which was previously a protestant school, and draws many of its pupils from Greater Shankill.

Last year council policy on dual language street signs changed, with the authority dropping the threshold to requiring only one resident of any Belfast street, or a councillor to trigger a consultation, with 15 percent in favour being sufficient to erect the sign.

The procedures developed under the revised policy also involve a notification of applications to councillors so they can raise whether it is “appropriate for the council to exercise its residual discretion not to apply the policy due to the local context.”

New DUP Councillor for Oldpark Jordan Doran was the first elected member to raise objections under the new policy. He stated in his objections: “Dunblane Avenue is a mixed and diverse community, and I have strong concerns that the proposal to add an Irish street name to Dunblane Avenue would have a strongly negative impact on community relations within the area.

“Cardigan Drive has a mixed and diverse community in and around it, and I have reservations that the proposal to add an Irish street name to Cardigan Drive would have a negative impact on community relations within and surrounding the area”

Councillor Doran failed to appear at or address the council’s People and Communities Committee, where the matter is dealt with.

At a meeting of the committee on Tuesday, DUP Councillor for Court Nicola Verner said: “I would like to have some insight as to what the initial assessment contains, and what it actually looks at. I think Councillor Doran was concerned about the Dunblane Avenue request in particular because the next street is Dunowen, the street that gives access to Girls Model Secondary School.

“I think there may have been a concern regarding the impact of a dual language sign on good relations in that surrounding area. So I want to know what the initial assessment for impact looked at.”

The council officer replied: “The initial assessment looks at a number of different factors including census information, in terms of make-up of residents in the different streets, and tries to identify any issues surrounding that. And we work with our good relations colleagues on potential impact or issues in that area.”

New Sinn Féin Councillor for Oldpark Tomás Ó Néill said: “I don’t get this. I live in the area, I work in the area, I represent the area. I appreciate what is being said but in reference to Cardigan Drive, a street that runs off it recently was surveyed, and 87 percent of respondents voted in favour of dual language signage.

“I would rather that Jordan was here, and I would have liked to have heard from him as to what he thinks. I don’t know what the negative impact of somebody potentially seeing Irish is. I don’t understand how seeing another language is going to impact you.

“What I do know is the impact on community relations when we say to residents who have applied that they won’t get their say, and what that will say about the council’s commitment to participation in city life, democratic process and public consultations.

“If residents vote against it - sound. That is the whole point of a resident’s survey. But to remove the option before we get there, that sounds out a horrible signal, and sets a dodgy precedent. Give the residents their say, let them vote yes or no, and then we can move forward with that information.”

DUP Councillor for Botanic Tracy Kelly said: “We have just had a report confirming Irish street signs, and everybody let it go through, as it is obviously in an area where it is wanted, and nobody has any issues. We have no issues with the Irish language where it is wanted.

“What Councillor Doran is raising here is that there are concerns where he represents. Those who represent the areas know those communities better. When concerns are raised it is important to listen to them.”

Councillor Ó Néill said: “Jordan is elected to that District Electoral Area, and so am I. I know multiple families on both of those streets who are raising their kids through Irish, and are Irish speakers. I am fairly confident that both of those streets will return a significant majority in favour.”

Councillor Verner said: “There is a school there with maybe 1,000 pupils that frequent that area as well. They will not have a say in a residents survey. They are still stakeholders in that area. We agree that everybody’s opinion matters, and everybody’s opinion is valuable.”

Councillor Ó Néill successfully proposed the council proceed with the survey of Cardigan Drive and Dunblane Avenue, with 15 votes in favour, and five votes against from the DUP.

Last year councillors agreed a new policy on dual language street signs would finally be implemented - 18 months after the policy was originally given the go-ahead in the chamber. Sinn Féin, Alliance, the SDLP, the Green Party, and the People Before Profit Party all support the new street sign policy, while the three unionist parties, the DUP, UUP and PUP, are against it.

The new policy means at least one resident of any Belfast street, or a councillor, is all that is required to trigger a consultation on a second nameplate, with 15 percent in favour being sufficient to erect the sign. Non-responses will no longer be counted as “against” votes, and there will be an equality assessment for each application.

Before that, the policy required 33.3 percent of the eligible electorate in any Belfast street to sign a petition to begin the process, and 66.6 percent to agree to the new dual language sign on the street. In the six months since the policy changed, a backlog built up of over 600 applications for Irish street signs.