DUP councillors have criticised the concept of a Gaeltacht Quarter in Belfast

At the recent Strategic Policy and Resources Committee meeting at Belfast City Council, councillors agreed plans for blanket bilingual street signs in west Belfast’s Gaeltacht Quarter, which has 417 streets, 108 of which already have been signed.

Of the remaining 309 streets in the Gaeltacht Quarter, approximately 48 have live applications under the current policy. There are around 700 streets across the whole of the city with outstanding applications for dual-language street signs.

Sinn Féin originally proposed the motion, highlighting the potential for the council to save hundreds of thousands on a bulk designation, rather than individually surveying streets in which an overwhelming majority would be in favour of Irish Street signs.

A council report states: “In March the council agreed to progress with dual language street signage in the Gaeltacht Quarter en block as a cost saving measure, subject to equality screening and when finance becomes available, with a report to be submitted to the committee in due course.

“This decision was called in and subject to a barrister’s opinion which concluded that the call-in did not have merit. Party group leaders were advised of the barrister’s opinion via email on 7th July 2023 and were advised that officers would implement the decision and a report will be brought to a subsequent meeting of SP&R Committee in due course outlining the result of an equality screening, the financial implications and any other associated matters.”

A council officer told the committee a draft equality screening was made on the proposal to erect the dual language street signs en bloc within the Gaeltacht Quarter, and the decision was “screened out as having minor impacts.” She added: “In any interface areas or specific streets of concern, members will be able to raise objections to engage the wider policy.”

The estimated cost of signage for the streets currently identified within the Gaeltacht Quarter is in the region of £135,000, with an extra £9,652 to be spent on the mail drop and advertising.

Sinn Féin’s Ciaran Beattie put it to the council officer that the cost of going through each Gaeltacht application individually would be £359,370, meaning the en bloc approach would save the council £209,718. The officer said: “Those assumptions are correct, but they are assumptions based on the number we could carry forward through the en bloc approach.”

An Alliance proposal to have the threshold for objections to this process as one person on any given street was voted down. Instead it will take 15 percent of any street in the Gaeltacht to trigger the requirement for an application and engagement of the current full process for a specific street within the Gaeltacht Quarter.

The committee also confirmed certain streets which form the boundary of the Gaeltacht Quarter are not to be included as part of the area, including the full length of Donegall Road. The full list of streets that will not be included are yet to be named.

While not voting against the plan, new DUP Councillors raised criticism of the very concept of a Gaeltacht in Belfast.

New Court DUP Councillor Ian McLaughlin said of the map boundary: “If this isn’t the actual blueprint for the boundary, then we shouldn’t be using it. People see this and assume that’s what it is. And people will try to expand it quite soon anyway. I’m not in agreement with the boundary.

“When I first heard the term ‘Gaeltacht Quarter’ many years ago, there were two streets around Culturlann – it has grown substantially. I need to understand where these boundaries have come from.

“Will this be capped at £135K? If it is, we would probably be better to employ someone to spell the signs correctly, so you avoid a lot of nonsense when it goes to production.”

He added: “I have grave concerns about the corridor of peace walls that exist along the full length of Springfield Road. There are serious community relations issues right along that corridor, where the peace walls are the biggest in Belfast, and show no sign of being removed.

“This signage, whether we admit it or not, demarcates social lines across this city. It will exclude a part of West Belfast. It is basically Republican West Belfast within that boundary, and it will be set apart from the rest of the city.

SDLP Councillor Séamas de Faoite said: “I am disappointed to hear again the perception that this is about isolating people or creating additional barriers in the city. We just have to look at what happens in parts of East Belfast where there is an understanding of the Irish language which has extended through the work of Turas, with Linda Ervine and other individuals demonstrating that the Irish language is open and welcoming for everybody.

“Like so many things in our city, it does not have to be defined by political binaries. We have to be able to understand our city is a diverse place, and that this is not an attempt to make anyone feel unwelcome. We have to challenge that mindset and break down those barriers as much as we can.”