Plan for Irish street sign near Stormont is voted down

A proposal to put up an Irish language street sign near Stormont has been narrowly voted down by Belfast City Council.

The sign was proposed for Stormont Park, off the Upper Newtownards Road in Belfast, close to the main entrance of the Stormont estate.

The council decided by 29 votes to 28 against putting up the sign. The Irish translation of Stormont Park is Páirc Chnoc an Anfa.

A survey of the street showed that, under council rules, there was the necessary support for the sign – 15% or more – but it was decided not to go ahead with it.

In response to a survey sent to 83 residents at Stormont Park, 56 people (67.4%) said they were not in favour of the sign, while 13 people (15.7%) were in favour.

Given that support was only just above the 15% threshold, it was decided at committee stage not to proceed with the new sign, and this was narrowly agreed by the full council.

Sinn Féin and the SDLP (Social Democratic and Labour Party) argued that the Irish street sign should have gone ahead as the required level of support had been met.

"It's about establishing a threshold, it's not a referendum," said the SDLP's Séamas de Faoite.

However, the unionists and the Alliance Party pointed to the fact that a large majority of those surveyed on Stormont Park was not in favour of the sign.

Alliance group leader Michael Long said after the meeting: "Given the closeness of the vote to the 15% threshold, I raised my concerns about issues that residents had about being excluded from the vote.

"Even one or two missed votes could have influenced the outcome of the consultation.

"Due to concerns raised by residents, I proposed a review of the data collection process, and this was agreed."

Green Party councillor Anthony Flynn also backed the move not to include Stormont Park saying he too had questions about the survey results.

There was a lengthy debate on the street sign issue at the council monthly meeting at City Hall.

It was decided to overturn a committee decision not to proceed with an Irish street sign at Onslow Gardens, off the Cregagh Road in east Belfast.

On this street, 41 people were against a new sign, while 29 were in favour which amounted to 25% of those surveyed.

The Irish translation of Onslow Gardens is Gairdíní Onslow.

Irish signs will also be erected on four other streets – Kimberley Street, St Johns Place, Indiana Avenue and Mountainview Drive.