A street in North Belfast will have new Irish language signage, as agreed by a city council committee.
Trinity Street off Clifton Street, will receive a sign with the Irish name Sráid na Tríonóide, as requested by the applicant, the Carrick Hill Residents Association.
The recent Belfast City Council People and Communities Committee (Tuesday, May 11th), agreed to the application, which is expected to be ratified at the next full council meeting next month.
It is the first sign to be agreed since a controversial change of Belfast City Council policy on dual street language signs.
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.
Up until now, the policy required 33 percent of the eligible electorate in any Belfast street to sign a petition to begin the process.
Sinn Fein, Alliance, the SDLP, the Green Party, and the People Before Profit Party all supported the new street sign policy, while the three unionist parties, the DUP, UUP and PUP, were all against it.
The council report on Trinity Street states: “In accordance with the council’s policy for the erection of dual language street signs, surveys were carried out of all persons appearing on the electoral register plus owners or tenants in actual possession of commercial premises, for the above street. The following responses were received: 1 (100%) is in favour of the erection of a second street nameplate.”
The translations were authenticated by Queens University, the approved translator for Belfast City Council and the Belfast City Council Irish Language Officer. The cost of the manufacturing and erection of the dual language street signs is around £100 per sign.
