Eight surveys will go ahead at streets in East and South Belfast
Eight streets in Belfast will go to survey for the erection of dual language street signage in English and Irish, despite being identified at City Hall as having “potential adverse impacts.”
A vote during a Belfast Council committee meeting means residential surveys will go ahead, after a proposal to withhold the eight streets by the DUP fell. The eight streets are Knock Eden Crescent, Willowfield Gardens, Wynchurch Road, Upper Knockbreda Road, Kingsberry Park and Ardenlee Court in East Belfast, and Sicily Park and Annadale Crescent in South Belfast.
The Belfast Council Dual Language Street Sign policy states that “each application will be subject to an initial assessment for any potential adverse impacts on equality, good relations and rural needs and where any adverse impacts are identified that information will be brought to Committee.”
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The council retains “residual discretion” in relation to applications for dual language street signs. This gives elected members the option to not proceed to survey and stop the erection of an Irish language street sign in any street where, in the view of councillors, it would be considered inappropriate.
Initial assessments by council officials were carried out for Knock Eden Crescent, Willowfield Gardens, Sicily Park, Upper Knockbreda Road and Annadale Crescent and potential adverse impacts were identified. Draft equality screenings were then carried out for equality and good relations issues.
Council officers wrote in the report forwarded to the council’s People and Communities Committee: “The screenings have identified that the carrying out of surveys and the erection of Irish language street signs in these areas has the potential to give rise to community tension. Conversely the screenings also identified that the process could assist in promoting cultural and linguistic diversity.”
Objections were forwarded by DUP councillors regarding Wynchurch Road, Annandale Crescent, Kingsberry Park and Ardenlee Court.
DUP Councillor Davy Douglas raised the objection concerning Wynchurch Road. He wrote: “Wynchurch is a mixed area close to the Cregagh estate and Flush Park, both traditional unionist areas. It is an area where people of both denominations live side by side without issue. I feel that the adoption of Irish street signage could be seen as divisive and have an adverse impact on good relations within the community, creating division where none currently exists.
“This has already been seen recently in Wynchurch Avenue where the street was surveyed twice, resulting in an increasing majority rejecting the proposal each time. Despite this, the views of the people who live in the street were ignored and dual language street signage was imposed against their wishes, damaging community relations in the process.”
DUP Councillor Bradley Ferguson raised the objections concerning Annadale Crescent, Kingsberry Park and Ardenlee Court. He wrote: “While I fully respect the cultural traditions and identities of all communities in Northern Ireland, I believe the introduction of bilingual signage in Lisnasharragh is divisive, unnecessary, and does not reflect the wishes of the majority of residents in the area.
“Lisnasharragh is a diverse and shared space and introducing street signs that are strongly associated with one particular political and cultural identity risks undermining community cohesion and alienating those from a different background. Public consultation should play a central role in decisions of this nature. However, I have serious concerns about the consultation process, particularly around the weighting of responses, the level of local engagement, and whether it genuinely reflects the majority opinion in each affected street.
“The interests of the whole community must be taken into account, not just those of activists or lobby groups. The Irish language is, for some, a deeply valued part of their cultural heritage. However, for others, it is seen, fairly or not, as a political symbol.
“As such, I strongly believe that street signage should remain neutral and inclusive to foster a shared future for everyone in Belfast. I urge the council to prioritise policies that promote inclusivity and mutual respect rather than those that risk increasing division.”
At the October meeting of the council’s People and Communities Committee, a DUP proposal to exclude the eight streets fell, with 14 votes against the proposal from Sinn Féin, Alliance, the SDLP, the Green Party, and People Before Profit. There were six votes in favour from the DUP and the UUP. The vote was then reversed and the committee voted that the streets be surveyed. The decision will go to the full council meeting in November for ratification.
SDLP Councillor Séamas de Faoite said: “Some of these streets I know quite well, and I am glad there is a proposal that we go ahead with consultation. It is important we recognise that even, as it says in the report, there is potential impact, that we talk about assisting and promoting cultural and linguistic diversity.
“That is often forgotten about whenever we talk about the assessments that come back in relation to particular streets. I know some of these particular streets well, I grew up in the Flush area, and know Knock Eden Crescent particularly well.
“I know what that area used to be, where there were attempts to try and make it single-identity, where there were attempts to intimidate and divide that community. My family was intimidated in that area in the late 90’s. It is a pluralistic area now, an area with a multitude of different identities, and is much more reflective of the modern Belfast in that sense.”
In 2022 councillors agreed a new policy on dual language street signs would finally be implemented – 18 months after the policy was originally given the go-ahead in the chamber. Sinn Féin, Alliance, the SDLP, the Green Party, and the People Before Profit Party all supported the new street sign policy, while the three unionist parties were against it.
The new policy means at least one resident of any Belfast street, or a councillor, is all that is required to trigger a consultation on a second nameplate, with 15 percent in favour being sufficient to erect the sign. Non-responses will no longer be counted as “against” votes, and there will be an equality assessment for each application.
Before that, the policy required 33.3 percent of the eligible electorate in any Belfast street to sign a petition to begin the process, and 66.6 percent to agree to the new dual language sign on the street.
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