Irish language groups gather to call for bilingual signage at south Belfast leisure centre

Irish language groups have gathered together in Belfast to highlight calls for bilingual signage at a south Belfast leisure centre.

Amid continuing delays over a lack of Irish language signage at Olympia Leisure Centre, the representatives from various organisations delivered a petition to Belfast City Council detailing their views on the provision.

Dual-language signs were due to be put up at the centre, located off the Boucher Road, after a Belfast City Council committee passed a motion in September 2021.

But the proposals were put on hold last year following a successful call-in motion tabled by DUP representatives on the council.

The proposals for bilingual signage at the leisure centre have since been put out to public consultation.

Representatives from Irish language groups at Belfast City Hall on Friday. Picture by Mal McCann

Cuisle Nic Liam, language rights co-ordinator with Conradh na Gaeilge, said Olympia is “a shared, public space situated on the Boucher Road, another well-recognised shared space”.

“Coláiste Feirste and Gaelscoil na bhFál are the closest schools in proximity to the centre, with Scoil an Droichid using the facility on a weekly basis,” she said.

"Belfast City Council need to think carefully about the message they will be sending to Irish-speaking children and families if they decide to remove the Irish language from the final provision.

"Shared spaces cannot be shared if they exclude the Irish language.

“It is high time that Belfast City Council recognise and cater to the bespoke needs of the Irish language community across their city-wide facilities that are, by design, shared and mutual spaces.”

She added that there is a “clear demand for bilingual signage” at the leisure centre.

“We are, of course, hugely disappointed to be in this position again; the consultation previously conducted on this issue in 2019/2020 demonstrated significant and clear demand for bilingual signage at Olympia Leisure Centre," she said.

"It seems that the council have completely disregarded those responses and are effectively ignoring their duties under their own languages strategy, various international treaties, charters and agreements and are giving more weight to baseless arguments in opposition to the erection of bilingual signage.

"Belfast City Council now have an incredible opportunity to take a progressive decision in favour of language equality, diversity and pluralism.”

A council spokesperson said: “A 14-week public consultation opened on 12 June 2023 to get feedback on an Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) on the erection of bilingual signage at Olympia Leisure Centre.

"The consultation remains open on the council’s consultation website at yoursay.belfastcity.gov.uk.

"The EQIA refers to previous consultations on this issue and the language strategy which aims to promote, protect and enhance the linguistic diversity of the city and reflect developments in international frameworks and regional strategies regarding our two indigenous languages.

“Once this consultation concludes, an EQIA final decision report will be produced and elected members will make a decision on signage at this location.”