Grand Central Station Irish signs plan could cost up to £3m court is told

Loyalist campaigner Jamie Bryson disclosed the rising estimated expense as he challenged Sinn Fein Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins’ decision to approve the project.

In March last year Ms Kimmins announced Irish signage is to feature at the city’s new public transport hub.

She indicated her decision was based on a commitment to promote the language and to ensure all citizens can access the station.

At that stage £150,000 funding was allocated to cover installation of bilingual displays on passenger information boards and Translink ticket vending machines, along with any other necessary changes.

The plans remain on hold, however, pending the outcome of Mr Bryson’s application for a judicial review.

He contends the Minister’s decision was so significant, controversial and cut across other Stormont Departments that it should have been brought to the Executive Committee for discussion and agreement.

By failing to take that step Ms Kimmins allegedly breached the Ministerial Code.

Representing himself in the proceedings, Mr Bryson argued new figures supplied by her own Department support his claims about the project’s significance.

“The (costs) of the Minister’s decision were initially put at £150,000, but it is now between £1m and £3m,” he submitted.

The increased figure is based on disability and EU law requirements for any changes in physical signage to also be reflected digitally, the court was told.

Amid a dispute between some members of the power-sharing coalition, DUP Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has intervened in the case based on his opinion that the decision was cross-cutting.

Irish language rights group Conradh na Gaeilge and TUV MLA Timothy Gaston have also been granted participation status in the legal battle.

Mr Bryson insisted he was not asking the court to take his side in a political debate or to make any determination about language.

“The only reason we are in this court is because the decision was not taken within the proper legal framework,” he said.

After playing a short video-clip of Ms Kimmons announcing plans to install the signage at Grand Central, he stressed how she herself described it as a significant step forward for the Executive.

The high-profile activist went on: “The Minister has simply gone on a solo run, and bypassed all of the safeguards standing in the way of a political decision she wanted to make.”

Setting out case law to back claims her decision should have been tabled at the Executive, Mr Bryson argued that was enough for his challenge to succeed.

He added: “The Minister simply says ‘the cost is £150,000, it’s not significant’, she doesn’t even apply her mind to the proper (legal) test.”

The hearing continues.