What is your council’s policy? – The Irish News
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Causeway Coast & Glens is to become the latest council in the north to review its bilingual street sign policy.
The council currently grants dual language signs on streets that have the support of 66% of residents.
It also requires a third of residents to sign a petition to initiate an application for new street signs.
Read more: Bilingual street sign policy review at Causeway Coast and Glens Council expected before Christmas
A review of the policy is due to take place around ten years after it was implemented and Sinn Féin councillors have said that it is so council policies avoid becoming “outdated” and “ineffective”.
Some councils, such as Belfast and Derry & Strabane, require only one resident to raise an application for dual language signs and 15% of residents to approve.
Here’s a breakdown of all of the north’s councils and their current bilingual signage policies.
One resident to apply/15% to approve
Best practice guidance from the United Nations states that the threshold for implementing dual language signs including a minority language tends to “vary between 5 per cent and 20 per cent of the local population”.
Currently, the following councils have a threshold of 15% of residents on a street to support an application for bilingual signs:
- Fermanagh & Omagh
- Belfast
- Derry City & Strabane
These councils also only require one resident to initiate the application.
One resident to apply/50% to approve
While the councils above only require the approval of 15% of residents, the following councils require at least 50% of residents to express support for the application:
- Newry, Mourne & Down
- Mid Ulster
Streets with unsuccessful applications in the Mid Ulster area cannot reapply until after following the initial bid.
A third of residents to apply/66% to approve
Five councils currently require a third of residents on a street to petition for dual language signs.
A super-majority of 66% is also required for applications to be approved.
Ards & North Down, Lisburn & Castlereagh and Causeway Coast & Glens all currently deem non-responses to surveys as opposition to the erection of signs.
Lisburn & Castlereagh states that Irish street names must be a direct translation of the current English name and that the applicant must pay for the translation cost.
The councils vary on the length of time before a street can reapply following an unsuccessful application for bilingual signs:
- Lisburn & Castlereagh – One year
- Armagh City, Banbridge & Newtownabbey – Two years
- Antrim & Newtownabbey – Three years
- Causeway Coast & Glens – Five years
No policy
Mid & East Antrim remains the north’s only council without a policy for dual language street signs.
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