Irish street sign won’t be placed at Belfast Orange hall

An Irish street sign will not be erected on or beside Belfast’s main Orange hall after all, Belfast City Council has confirmed.

t the beginning of the month, the council sent a decision to grant Irish language signage at Clifton Street back to a committee for further discussion.

The move came after the DUP claimed the Orange hall had not received a survey about the sign. 

Party councillor Brian Kingston said the Orange Order had contacted him about the potential placing of the sign.

The Orange hall stands on a street corner where signs are often situated.

However, a council officer at this week’s people and communities committee confirmed the Irish signs would go where the current street signs are — on the junction with North Queen Street, on a set of metal railings, and on the junction with the Westlink, on a bridge.

There was previously a street sign on railings at the junction with Carlisle Circus which was destroyed after a collision.

It will be replaced, again with an Irish sign.

Councillors agreed to delay the erection of the signs to receive a reply from the Orange hall and to send the survey to two addresses that were incorrectly believed to be vacant.

Members heard a council officer had hand-delivered the surveys but could not hand-deliver papers to the Orange hall because it had no post box.

The survey was subsequently posted to the address of the Orange hall, to which the council received no response or any return from Royal Mail.

The hall later contacted the DUP to address the issue, asking for its opinion to be taken into consideration.

So far, 75% of respondents have been in favour of the Irish sign at Clifton Street.

Alliance councillor Sian Mulholland said: “We have no problem with a short deferral for the Orange hall to feel they have been communicated with, but looking at the results already, there is a 75% quota already met, so even if the Orange hall comes back with a refusal, I don’t know if that will change anything.”

DUP councillor Fred Cobain said: “I don’t think it makes any difference to the end result, but that is not what the issue is. The issue is they weren’t consulted.

“What we are talking about is not for ever — it is a four-week delay.”

The council’s policy on the erection of a second street name plate requires that at least two-thirds of the people surveyed be in favour of the proposal.

A third of the eligible electorate is required to sign a petition to begin the process.