An application for dual language street signage has been approved by Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council for the first time ever at their full-council meeting on Monday night.
The Council upheld a decision taken at a recent meeting of their Planning & Regulatory Services Committee on Thursday, September 19 to proceed with the application for Woodside Gardens in Portadown.
All Unionist councillors in attendance abstained from the committee vote last week.
Under the Council’s current dual language street policy, which has been consistently criticised by language groups due to restrictive criteria, applications must be supported by a petition from 33% of residents supporting the application.
This petition was submitted on October 30, 2023, having obtained support from all eligible residents of Woodside Gardens.
Residents were then issued with the Council’s postal survey four months later in March 2024.
In order to be successful, applications for dual language street signs in ABC Council require support from at least 66% of residents on the electoral register living on that specific street.
Non-responses are automatically recorded as votes against the application. 90% of all residents on the street supported the application, with 100% of all of those who responded to the survey voting in favour. The one resident who didn’t respond later contacted the council informing them of their neutral stance. There were no active objections from residents to this application.
The Woodside Gardens’ application was initially scheduled for decision at a previous meeting of the Planning & Regulatory Services Committee in May 2024, but an anonymous request to meet with the head of the Council’s Building Control Department to discuss the Council’s dual language street signage policy resulted in a deferral.
At the following Planning & Regulatory Services Committee meeting in June, Councillors decided to make allowances for written submissions regarding the application and to facilitate requests for speaking rights at their next Committee meeting on July 9, 2024.
It is at this meeting of the Planning & Regulatory Services Committee, which was addressed by Conradh na Gaeilge and local residents, that all Unionist Councillors voted against a proposal to accept the application for Woodside Gardens until further information has been gathered in the form of a site visit to the street in question. That site visit took place in August 2024.
This is only the second application to have exceeded the required thresholds of support in the Council’s postal survey. The first application, made for Woodside Hill was refused in 2023, having received support from 64 residents, with only three residents opposing. This decision is currently before High-Court Judicial Review proceedings.
Speaking after Monday night’s meeting, Sinn Féin Councillor Paul Duffy, said: “The recognition of the Irish language by ABC council is long overdue.
“Residents of Woodside Gardens in Portadown entered into our bi-lingual street signage process, followed all aspects of our policy and tonight the signs have been given the go-ahead.
“I welcome this and commend the community of Woodside for their persistence.
“The Irish language is a vibrant part of our culture and identity and the visibility of it enhances our surroundings.”
Cuisle Nic Liam, Language Rights Coordinator with Conradh na Gaeilge, said: “ABC Council has one of the most restrictive street signage policies across all local councils here; the unanimous support for Woodside Gardens is testament to the determination of the local Irish language community in reaffirming their right to see their language in public; a right which is enshrined in the council’s own dual language street signage policy which, up until this date, they have failed to honour.
“There was never any question around the desires of the residents of this street. The Council should, at all times, seek to apply it’s own policy fairly as informed by the expressed wishes of every single respondent. This application is an historic first for ABC Council and a move that should be celebrated as heralding a new era of language equality in the area. We would like to commend the residents of Woodside Gardens for their determination in bringing this application forward and for supporting it in the strongest possible manner.”
Linda O’Neill, local youth and community health worker, added: “We have a vibrant, thriving and growing local Irish language community in Portadown. As a parent of two children who are part of that community and whose lives have been enriched as a result of the numerous benefits of receiving their formal education through the medium of their native language, approving this application is a positive step forward for my children and others.
“It moves us towards an area where the Irish language is celebrated and cherished and affords those with little or no experience with the language an opportunity to engage with it in an everyday manner through our shared placenames and shared spaces. Visible representation of the Irish language by Council and other public bodies is long overdue and so we very much welcome this decision.
“Residents in Woodside Gardens followed all council procedures and engaged faithfully in this process. They responded to the postal survey and were overwhelming in their support for this application. As ratepayers, their wishes should not have been ignored for this long and I am glad that their voices are finally being heard.”
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