Irish street sign moves approved despite trouble warning: Pushes that could spike 'community tension' voted through for unionist areas where 90% of people don't speak Gaelic

Pleas from unionist politicians to back off from the idea fell on deaf ears last night (7th), with nationalist politicians joined by Alliance to kickstart processes that could result in Irish being branded on parts of east and south Belfast.

Last week’s controversy over the city council’s decision to blitz the language across all of its buildings, parks, playgrounds, leisure centres and sports pitches in the entire city was still ringing in the ears of unionists as the street sign move came up.

DUP councillor Sarah Bunting argued enough damage had already been done without starting on streets where city hall’s own officials warned the very act of asking if Irish signs should be built could cause a spike in community tensions, stating as a result of last week’s move “good relations in the community have already been significantly impacted and undermined”.

But unionists were overwhelmingly defeated, meaning residents of two streets towards the east of the city, Willowfield Gardens off unionist Woodstock Road and Knock Eden Crescent close to the loyalist Cregagh estate, will be surveyed on whether or not they want their streets named in Irish and English.

Census data shows that 91% of people who live in the electoral ward containing Willowfield Gardens don’t speak a word of Irish, while 90% in the Knock Eden Crescent area have no knowledge of the language. If 15% of people who reply to the surveys want Irish signs, however, they’ll be built.

Officials also warned about starting moves to build Irish signs on Annadale Crescent and Upper Knockbreda Road in south Belfast, as well as Sicily Park to the west of the city – but politicians voted to issue the surveys anyway.

Two DUP councillors had filed official objections to kickstarting Irish signs moves on a total of four streets in the Lisnasharragh district of south Belfast district. Officials only cautioned about potential trouble on one of those streets, Annadale Crescent, but the unionist pair felt building dual-language signs would “create division where none currently exists” and go against the wishes of the majority of those four areas.

During last night’s meeting, SDLP councillor Seamas de Faoite rejected those arguments. Stating he’d grown up around that part of the city, he said his family were intimidated in the late 1990s during “attempts to make [the area] single identity” but those streets are now “much more reflective of the modern Belfast” and contain “a multitude of identities”.

DUP councillor Jordan Doran complained about unionist concerns being dismissed by other politicians, arguing the signs would “send a message of cultural dominance, rather than shared respect”.

He added: “[Nationalist] councillors wish to see the Irish language; well that’s OK, but there needs to be respect for the people who do not share that aspiration.”

The system of building dual-language street signs has been a regular bugbear for unionists since the council massively relaxed its conditions a couple of years ago. Since then, more Irish signs have been approved than in the 24 years of the previous stricter regime, while no signs in any other language have been given a green light.