Irish signs refused for two East Belfast streets after tight vote at City Hall

A DUP committee chair gave the deciding vote

Onslow Gardens, East Belfast

Applications for two Irish street signs in the Cregagh and Stormont areas of East Belfast have been refused after a tight vote during a committee meeting at City Hall.

Applications for dual language street signs in English and Irish at Onslow Gardens off Cregagh Road, not far from George Best House, and at Stormont Park off Upper Newtownards Road, beside the Stormont estate, were refused this week. Both passed the required threshold of 15 percent, but in each case more local residents were against the new street signs than were in favour.

At the March meeting of the Belfast City Council People and Communities Committee, held this week, a tight vote to exclude the two streets from six applications for Irish street signs was only passed with a casting vote from the DUP Chair of the committee, Councillor Fred Cobain, on an Alliance Party proposal.

The committee received six applications for Irish language dual street signage, at Onslow Gardens, Stormont Park, Kimberley Street off Sunnyside Street and St Johns Place in South Belfast, and Indiana Avenue off Cavehill Road and Mountainview Drive, close to Crumlin Road, in North Belfast.

All six passed the 15 percent threshold to erect the signs, but only Onslow Gardens and Stormont Park received more voices against than in favour. The council surveyed 115 people for Onslow Gardens and 83 for Stormont Park. The Onslow street would have become Gairdíní Onslow, while the Stormont street would have become Páirc Chnoc an Anfa.

For Onslow Gardens, 29 occupiers, that is 25 percent, were in favour of the erection of a second street name plate, while 41 occupiers, that is 36 percent, were not in favour.

The council report states: “A resident telephoned to question why the 15 percent threshold is so low. Another resident made a comment on their survey that they have no objection to anyone learning or using Irish, but see no need for street signs in Irish when virtually everyone using the street speaks English and only a small minority understand Irish. They also commented that they could not understand how 15 percent can lead to approval.

“Another resident sent a letter to the department stating that they believe the policy has the effect of deploying Irish as a device to mark out territory in an already divided city. They also believe Onslow Gardens is a mixed area and wish it to remain a place with a warm welcome for all residents.

“The resident further takes issue with the dual language process and questions what engagement the council has attended or convened to ascertain local feelings and circumstances.”

For Stormont Park, 13 occupiers, that is 16 percent, were in favour of the erection of a second street name plate, while 56 occupiers, that is 67 percent, were not in favour of the erection of a second street name plate.

The council report states: “A resident sent a letter to the department to say that they believe 15 percent to gain approval is not democratic and feel that the dual language application is politically motivated.

“Another resident made a complaint expressing opposition to the proposed changes to street name signage and objecting to the 15 percent threshold, which they believe lacks legitimacy and is purpose built to create division and resentment, not foster community cohesion. They urge the council to reconsider and review the policy as a matter of fundamental democratic principle and to replace it with a process that is fair, legitimate and truly representative of the will of the community.”

At the committee meeting, Alliance Councillor Jenna Maghie proposed granting approval for signs at Kimberley Street, St Johns Place, Indiana Avenue and Mountainview Drive, but not for Onslow and Stormont. A counter proposal by Sinn Féin Councillor Róis-Máire Donnelly, that all six be approved, failed, after it was heard first.

Councillor Maghie said the decision not to approve streets that had more people against than in favour, despite the 15 percent threshold, was “in line with what we have done previously.”

Nine councillors voted in favour of the Alliance proposal, from Alliance and the DUP and, while nine voted against the proposal, from Sinn Féin, the SDLP, and People Before Profit. The Chair, Councillor Fred Cobain, cast the deciding vote in favour of the Alliance proposal.

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 support the new street sign policy, while the three unionist parties, the DUP, UUP and PUP, are 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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