Editorial: It is time for the Alliance Party to admit that the Irish signage policy it supported in Belfast is not working

This week we have reported on the latest impact of Belfast’s appalling Irish language sign policy.

A street in the east of the city where only 15.66% of occupants wanted dual Gaelic and Irish signage passed the threshold for such an outcome to be implemented.

The plan for Stormont Park was either opposed by, or not supported by, 84% of its residents. There was more opposition than support in Onslow Gardens too.

As it happens, these proposals have not yet been enacted because a committee was evenly split on whether or not to proceed. The council policy is that if a street passes the ridiculously low 15% margin, it goes to committee for ratification.

The Alliance Party supported this disgraceful policy. Its councillor Michael Long wrote to this newspaper late last year to say that while Alliance backed the 15% threshold for consideration, it would not support the erection of dual street signage if most residents oppose it.

But this is, at best, naive. The policy is panning out in just the sectarian way that its Sinn Fein advocates wanted it to: Irish signage all across Belfast, even in areas where it is opposed by an overwhelming majority of residents. People Before Profit, the Greens, and SDLP all support pressing ahead even amidst clear local opposition.

It is a chilling insight into any notion of a political all Ireland, with the island getting ever greener and ever more dismissive of the unionist minority (consider how the IRA chant ‘ooh ah up the ra’ is deemed harmless).

Alliance might be uneasy about the way this contemptible Irish signage policy is panning out, which will mean Gaelic signs almost regardless of local feeling. There is still time for the party to admit that the policy has failed, will continue to fail, and is causing community tensions and resentments in the same way that unionist symbolism would cause uproar if it was forced into nationalist areas.