Irish signs bid blocks Hebrew move in Unionist enclave
A request to build Irish street signs in a unionist enclave is blocking attempts to build Hebrew signage there.
Sources on Ebor Street, around the Village area of Belfast, say an application for signage in both English and Hebrew would be “supported by the majority of residents” and “show support and solidarity with our Jewish community” – but city hall aren’t going to do anything about it, as a bid to have Irish signs built there was filed first.
Under Belfast City Council rules, only one application for dual language signs can be dealt with at a time. Ebor Street’s residents will have to wait until the Irish language bid is dealt with before the Hebrew one will be considered.
But that could be some time coming, as the council deferred the Irish language request in December 2023 and still hasn’t got around to comiong to a conclusion on it.
Back in 2023, the council’s own officials said the simple act of surveying Ebor Street about potentially building Irish language street signs “could cause community tension”, with councillor Tracy Kelly at the time worrying that doing so would “greatly impact community relations and cause upset when it is not necessary”.
She now wants to see the council close the Irish language application without surveying the street due to the move’s potential to cause trouble – something that would also allow the Hebrew bid to be heard.
"The Belfast City Council policy regarding dual languages needs to be reviewed as soon as possible,” the DUP councillor said.
"It is ridiculous that when a resident of Ebor Street requests a second language sign in Hebrew, something that will be supported by residents, they’re told they have to wait because Irish has already been applied for.
“I am calling for common sense to prevail, and for the Irish language application to be scrapped and Hebrew consulted upon.”
Dual language sign requests are kept anonymous, so it’s not known if the Irish application for Ebor Street came from a resident or one of the five councillors representing the Botanic district.
Although the council’s dual sign policies allow many languages to be considered alongside English, over more than 25 years several hundred Irish signs have been approved while only three in another language have been built – all Ulster Scots.