Belfast streets to get Irish signs even though fewer than one in five people want them
Belfast streets are set to have signs built in Irish, even though fewer than one in five residents want it to happen.
Surveys of Stanfield Place and Veryan Gardens came back with less than 20% of people living in either one in favour of building dual language signs.
In Stanfield Place, just 16.94% of residents said they want signs giving the name of the street in Irish as well as English, while in Veryan Gardens 18.75% responded to surveys saying they’re in favour.
But because the council’s current rules say the backing of only 15% of residents is enough to build the signs, they’re now almost certain to be constructed.
Veryan Gardens is in Newtownabbey, while Stanfield Place is in the staunchly nationalist Markets area of Belfast.
They’re among 10 applications for Irish language street signs slated for approval at a Belfast City Council meeting tonight (6th).
Unionists have been strongly critical of the council’s current rules for building dual language signage, which have seen more applications for Irish signs approved in the two years since the system came into play than in the previous 24 years under a more strict policy.
Current rules state that the process for dual language signs will be triggered if one or more residents of a street request them. Every Belfast councillor can also submit applications for roads within their district, whether or not householders have asked them to.
Once a request has been filed, surveys go out asking any street residents on the electoral register whether they think dual language signs are a good idea; if at least 15% of those residents back the move, the signs will be built, even if the other 85% all come back saying they don’t want them.
Under the old policy, which was in place from 1998 to 2022, at least one-third of a street had to petition for signs before an application would be considered.
Unionists argue the 15% threshold is far too low and that kickstarting the process with just a single anonymous request leaves the system open to bad actors seeking to manipulate it.
Almost 1,000 requests for dual language signs covering more than 650 streets are still on the council’s waiting lists. All dual language signs approved in the last two years have featured Irish.