Belfast Council rejects Irish street signs application despite it reaching threshold

Belfast Council has rejected an application for Irish street signs at a South Belfast street despite it reaching the threshold for approval.

Elected representatives at a Belfast City Council committee meeting this week were asked to consider nine applications for dual language street signs at nine streets, and approved all but one, an application for Wellington Park Terrace, BT9. The street runs between Eglantine Avenue and Wellington Park, off Malone Road.

The nationalist parties Sinn Féin and SDLP acceded to a DUP proposal to not include Wellington Park Terrace in this month’s tranche of streets to receive dual language street signs.

35 people were surveyed in Wellington Park Terrace. Six occupiers (17 percent) were in favour of the erection of a second street name plate in Irish, while 11 occupiers (31 percent) were not in favour, and one occupier had no preference either way.

In relation to the Wellington Park Terrace application, the council report said: “One resident is not in favour of the erection of a second street name plate as they feel the street is a mixed community and the dual language sign would risk undermining the harmony, and would be damaging.”

In 2022 councillors agreed a new policy on dual language street signs. 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.

The other streets that were agreed for Irish signage this month were Brookvale Street, BT14, Beechlawn Avenue, BT17, Linen Grove, BT14, Dawson Street, BT15, Jubilee Avenue, BT15, Thorndale Avenue, BT14, Woodland Grange, BT11, and Grangeville Gardens, BT10.

Regarding Grangeville Gardens, the report states: “One resident is not in favour of the erection of a second street name plate as they state that the street has been a flashpoint for sectarian trouble in the past.

“They state that property in the street was vandalised and residents were attacked. They worry the sign will label the area as solely nationalist and fear the street could become a flashpoint again.”

At Grangeville Gardens, the survey showed 51 occupiers (36 percent) were in favour of the erection of a second street name plate, while 21 occupiers (15 percent) were not in favour and one occupier had no preference either way.

The cost for the nine streets was approximated at £3,300 to cover manufacturing and erection of the dual language street signs. This will be less now without Wellington Park Terrace.

At the council’s People and Communities Committee meeting at City Hall, where the dual language street sign applications were heard, DUP Councillor Sarah Bunting told the chamber: “Wellington Park Terrace has passed the 15 percent threshold, but almost double the amount of people have responded that they are not in favour of having the second street sign erected. I propose we don’t move ahead with it.”

Sinn Féin Councillor Micheal Donnelly said: “We have had previous examples where the threshold has been met in terms of the 15 percent, but we understand the sensitivities.

“In terms of taking this out, it is not disregarding it so that it will never be looked at again, it is about looking at it at another time, so it can be explored again in the future. We have met the threshold as set by policy of this council, however we have taken a mature approach in this committee before, where different streets have been looked at, and will again be assessed in the future.”

Last month the council approved Irish dual language street signs for a two-house street in South Belfast where one residency voted in favour and one voted against.

At the People and Communities Committee meeting in September, elected members agreed dual English and Irish language signs for Grangeville Drive, BT10, off Upper Lisburn Road. The street will be signed Céide Bhaile na Gráinsí in Irish.