A Belfast City Council committee has approved plans for bilingual Irish/English signage at the Olympia Leisure Centre, despite opposition from DUP councillors. The decision, which follows a consultation showing strong public support for bilingual signs, will now go to the full council for ratification.
There have been bitter exchanges between political parties at Belfast City Hall after a council committee approved bilingual Irish/English signage at Olympia Leisure Centre .
During the committee debate an SDLP councillor claimed he was referred to with “Nazi” comments by a councillor from another party, while a DUP councillor moments later apologised for remarks made in what he described as a private conversation. At the committee meeting on Friday Morning, City Solicitor Nora Largey said: “The consultation report really established that there were two very stark views in terms of the erection of signage at Olympia Leisure Centre.
DUP Councillor Sarah Bunting said: “We do feel the EQIA doesn’t show the good relations impact that would be had by putting the signage up at Olympia Leisure Centre. We need to take into account the issues that have taken place in the local area over the summer. There has been high tensions.” He added: “It is also important to remember that in terms of our leisure programme, the decision was taken that we would have an East Belfast and a South Belfast leisure facility.
“People are right when they say all our leisure centres are for everybody, that’s what all our parks are for, all of the citizens of Belfast, and people visiting. Maybe a sensible approach would be that taken by Translink, where they have a welcome sign inside their new building which welcomes everybody in all languages.”
He said: “For areas we represent people do have a genuine view that they don’t want Irish language street signs for instance. And I think it is entirely wrong that people who have that view are demonised as some sort of idiots. These people have a genuine view around this particular issue.” He said people who objected to Irish language signs were “seen as some sort of bigot.”
SDLP Councillor Séamas de Faoite said: “This discussion has a risk of damaging good relations, and is sending out a very difficult message out to the rest of the city if we hear more of the contributions we have heard.” Belfast City Council carried out a consultation into the proposed erection of bilingual or multilingual external naming and internal directional signage at its four city wide leisure centres, Andersonstown, Olympia, Lisnasharragh and Templemore in 2019 and 2020.
The DUP then called for the decision to be scrapped altogether, but were told it would have to return to committee level again for elected members to consider the next move, as the DUP proposal required the support of a qualified majority vote of 80 percent of the Members present and voting. Councillors at the S,P&R Committee again voted for dual signage at Olympia and the matter then was moved to a full equality impact assessment which started in June 2023.
Bilingual Signage Belfast City Council Olympia Leisure Centre DUP Sinn Féin
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