East Belfast Irish street sign application sparks Council row over dual language policy

An application for Irish language street signage on an East Belfast street has been stalled, amidst a row over the new dual language policy at City Hall.

An application for Irish language dual street signage at Wynchurch Avenue, in the Rosetta area of Belfast, passed the 15 percent threshold of residents in favour of erect the sign, with 20 occupiers (17.70 percent) in favour of the street being named “Ascaill Wynchurch”.

However 30 occupiers (26.55 percent) were also not in favour of the erection of a second street nameplate, four occupiers had no preference either way, and 59 occupiers (52.21 percent) did not respond to the survey.

At a Belfast City Council committee meeting on Tuesday, elected representatives were being asked to approve second street nameplates in Irish for ten streets: Orchardville Avenue, Wynchurch Avenue, Mayfield Square, Hillhead Avenue, St Meryl Park, Downview Park West, Chichester Avenue, Ballymurphy Drive, Margaretta Park, and Airfield Heights.

The People and Communities Committee agreed, without DUP support, to approve all the streets except for Wynchurch Avenue, where residents will be surveyed again by the council.

In the Downview Park West survey, 70 occupiers (39.55 percent) were in favour of the erection of a second street nameplate, 36 occupiers (20.34 percent) were not in favour of the erection of a second street nameplate, and 71 occupiers (40.11 percent) did not respond to the survey.

The council report states: “One resident from Downview Park West, who is not in favour of the dual language nameplate, has written in to complain about the time and money being wasted on what they perceive to be trivial issues.

“Another resident telephoned to raise a concern about their property depreciating in value should the signage be erected, A further resident from Downview Park West has written in and is strongly objecting to the dual language nameplate in a mixed area.

“The resident feels that a dual language nameplate can be very divisive. The resident has also requested to address the decision makers at the committee.”

The DUP proposed to defer a decision on the application from Downview Park West, which is in the Fortwilliam Area, pending a meeting with the resident - this was voted down by the committee.

Last July 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.

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 built up of over 600 applications for Irish street signs.

At Tuesday’s committee meeting at City Hall there were bitter exchanges between Sinn Féin and the DUP over the latest tranche of streets earmarked for Irish signs.

Sinn Féin Councillor Micheal Donnelly said: “In terms of Downview Park West, it has more than exceeded the 15 percent threshold, so I don’t think there is any need to bring the objector in - because where does this end?

"In terms of Wynchurch, 17 percent are in favour, 26 percent against, and 59 percent don’t really have an opinion on it - we can go back out to residents to have their thoughts on that one.”

SDLP Councillor Séamas de Faoite said: “I know Wynchurch Avenue incredibly well. It is a very typically united community and street, so much so that during coronavirus >Covid, when one of the neighbours turned 100, they organised a socially distanced birthday party throughout the entirety of the street.

“I am particularly proud to be one of the local representatives for the area, and I commend the residents there for their level of cohesion and the community spirit. I obviously supported the new policy as it was brought in, but I am happy for it to go back out for further engagement with residents.

“We need to do everything we can to make sure that the council doesn’t inadvertently disrupt the strong sense of community there is in that area, and the sense of diversity there as well.”

DUP Councillor Fred Cobain said: “Regarding Chichester Avenue - It is getting into lunacy this thing. You have 12 applicants for, 10 against, and 47 don’t care. And yet we are making decisions around this stuff.

“The vast majority of people who live in this street don’t care whether an Irish language, or dual language sign goes up or not. For people who live in areas where they want the Irish dual signs in their street, I have no objection, the people who live in majority areas are entitled to have dual language if that is what they want.

“And with Downview Park West, I think it is very arrogant for us to say to ratepayers who feel very strongly about this issue, that we are not going to listen to them. It is going to be hard enough in these areas to keep community relations together, and that sort of arrogance just makes it worse.”

DUP Councillor Tracy Kelly said: “We have people coming here all the time, speaking to committees. To just say to (the resident) - ‘I am sorry but your opinion isn’t important and we don’t want to hear it’ - is just disgusting.

“If you look at what people are saying in Downview Park West - that it is a mixed area, that it will be divisive, that it is a waste of money - and some people are even saying it will bring the value of their property down.”

The council report states: “All of the surveys listed above demonstrate compliance with the threshold contained within the policy. However the committee is reminded that the council retains a residual discretion under the policy to decide to erect or not to erect a street sign in a language other than English in certain circumstances.

“This will be done on a case by case basis. The policy states that it may be appropriate to depart from the procedures in this policy when there are clear reasons for doing so.

“This may include taking into account: (a) the views of the occupiers of the street; (b) the results of the initial assessment for the application, including any identified potential adverse impacts on equality, good relations and rural needs; © consideration of the local context of the application; (d) any other council policies or strategies related to the application; and (e) all material considerations relating to the application.”

The cost for the 10 streets is approximately £3,350 - this covers the manufacturing and erection of 28 dual language street signs.