Belfast Olympia Leisure Centre: Irish language signs' plan goes to public consultation

A controversial proposal by Belfast Council to put Irish language signage at Olympia Leisure Centre in South Belfast has been put to public consultation this week.

In September 2021, a council committee passed a Sinn Féin proposal to erect bilingual external naming and internal directional signage at Olympia Leisure Centre by 12 members to six, with one abstention.

The Strategic Policy and Resources Committee also agreed that a report on linguistic accessibility at Lisnasharragh and Templemore Leisure Centres be submitted to a future meeting, and that a multilingual welcome sign be erected in the entrance/reception area of all leisure centres.

Then in January 2022 the decision was subjected to a successful “call-in” tabled by the DUP, effectively stalling the decision for further review. Councillors were told the call-in was successful on the basis that officers believed an external report showed there was the potential for “adverse community impact.”

The DUP then called for the decision to be scrapped altogether, but were told it would have to return to committee level again for elected members to consider the next move. Councillors at the S,P and R Committee again voted for dual signage at Olympia and the matter then was moved to a full equality impact assessment.

The Olympia Leisure Centre on Boucher Road is flanked on its north side by Tates Avenue and the Village, a largely unionist/loyalist area.

The 14 week consultation begins on June 12, involving public information and engagement events both at Olympia Leisure Centre and online to give everyone an opportunity to provide feedback on the council proposal to erect bilingual external naming and internal directional signage at Olympia Leisure Centre.

The online events will be held on Tuesday June 13th, 10 to 11am, and Wednesday August 23rd, 12 to 1pm and 7 to 8pm. To register for this visit here

Public events at Olympia Leisure Centre will be held on Wednesday June 14th at 3 to 4pm and 7 to 8pm. To register for this visit here

The council said: “Belfast aims to be a welcoming and inclusive city for all. In keeping with the council’s long-term vision for the city, as set out in the Belfast Agenda, the council’s Language Strategy for 2018-2023 aspires to create a place where linguistic diversity is celebrated and respected, and where those who live, work and visit Belfast can expect to access what Belfast has to offer, using forms of language with which they are familiar and comfortable.

“ Belfast City Council carried out a consultation into the proposed erection of bilingual or multilingual external naming and internal directional signage at its four city-wide leisure centres ( Andersonstown, Olympia, Lisnasharragh and Templemore) in 2019 / 20. Following that consultation, the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee agreed to erect the bilingual signage, however, the Elected Members subsequently agreed to proceed with an Equality Impact Assessment on the erection of bilingual external naming and internal directional signage at Olympia Leisure Centre.

“We are consulting on the Draft Equality Impact Assessment in relation to the proposal to erect bilingual signs at Olympia. The promotion of equality of opportunity and good relations are key principles within the delivery of the Language Strategy.”

It adds: “An Equality Impact Assessment is a tool used by the council to make sure that we meet our equality duties under Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act. This means that when we are carrying out our functions, powers and duties, we have to have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity.

“The Act requires that we have regard to the desirability of promoting good relations between persons of different religious belief, political opinion or racial group.

“The Draft Equality Impact Assessment will be finalised after the consultation and an EQIA final decision report will be produced. The final decision report will be presented to our elected members, and they will consider it when they make a decision on the signage.”

Last July councillors agreed a new policy on dual language street signs - 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 supported the new street sign policy, while the three unionist parties, the DUP, UUP and PUP, were 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.

Up until last July, 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 of over 600 applications for Irish street signs built up at City Hall.