{"id":131606,"date":"2025-10-19T07:33:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T07:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/131606\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T07:33:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T07:33:07","slug":"irish-language-signs-vandalised-in-affluent-east-belfast-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/131606\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish-language signs vandalised in affluent east Belfast \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a tree-lined street in east Belfast<\/a>, two metal poles beside a neat hedge are the only reminder of what police say is a hate crime.<\/p>\n

Last Saturday, a vandal used an angle grinder to remove the Irish-language type on the name of the street Shandon Park, from a newly installed bilingual sign.<\/p>\n

This quiet street, dubbed a \u201cmini Malone\u201d \u2013 the Malone Road is regarded as Belfast\u2019s most affluent suburb \u2013 has become one of the most sought-after addresses in the city.<\/p>\n

Barristers and doctors are among those living in its redbrick Victorian houses.<\/p>\n

There is even a golf club named after it; the club\u2019s back entrance is in the middle of the street.<\/p>\n

In an area once a bastion of unionism, children wearing Our Lady\u2019s and St Patrick\u2019s College Knock uniforms \u2013 a prestigious Catholic Grammar school a short distance away \u2013 walk the road on their way home.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the epitome of a leafy suburb … and people living here are horrified by what happened on Saturday night. It was such a violent act,\u201d says one resident.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike a lot of east Belfast, there is a growing Catholic or nationalist professional class in Shandon Park. But they don\u2019t shove it in people\u2019s faces; people just get along and they don\u2019t think twice about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe bilingual Shannon Park sign as it was before the vandalism. Photograph: Stephen Davison\/Pacemaker Press <\/p>\n

The resident describes it as \u201ca violent expression of a culture war. We don\u2019t want it. It is quite a mixed community, but quietly so\u201d.<\/p>\n

Loyalists from the nearby Braniel estate are being blamed for the vandalism which the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) described as \u201chate-motivated criminal damage\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne line of inquiry we are investigating is that the suspect, who was holding an angle grinder, shouted verbal abuse at a man,\u201d the PSNI says.<\/p>\n

Tattered remnants of a union flag hang from a lamp-post outside the golf club. Two others were erected during the summer in a move connected to the signage row. This was the first time flags appeared in the street, and they were linked to loyalists from other areas.<\/p>\n

Residents approached by The Irish Times on Monday are too nervous to disclose their names. All condemn the vandalism.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not normal,\u201d says one woman, pointing to the empty space where the street sign stood.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I knew it would cause problems, I just knew. I wasn\u2019t offended but I thought: \u2018How much does that cost? And how many people speak Irish?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Another woman from a Protestant background says she is not concerned by change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are people out there who have a fear of their cultural identity being taken over; I know my cultural identity, and no one can take that one away from me,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Within 24 hours of the name plate appearing on Shandon Park last week, its Irish name, P\u00e1irc an tSeandu\u00edn, was spray-painted black.<\/p>\n

The incident is the latest in escalating vandalism on bilingual street signs since the delayed scheme was passed by Belfast City Council three years ago.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of signs have been installed in a move fiercely opposed by unionists, who liken it to \u201ccultural branding\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"AA bilingual sign on south Belfast street Carnmore Gardens was defaced, with red paint daubed over the Irish name. Photograph: Pacemaker Press <\/p>\n

Cranmore Gardens, close to the Malone Road, was targeted twice last year after becoming the first street in the upmarket BT9 area to have Irish-language street signs.<\/p>\n

Under council rules, just one resident in a street or their local councillor can request a consultation for the erection of a bilingual nameplate.<\/p>\n

A 15 per cent threshold is required before it goes to full council for approval, a change heavily criticised by unionists.<\/p>\n

When residents were consulted in Shandon Park, 16.8 per cent expressed support. Almost half (49.59%) were opposed.<\/p>\n

One woman says she is \u201cperturbed\u201d by the level of opposition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t understand it. Neighbours were initially very supportive,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I think the amount of fear that people in these areas are living under just can\u2019t be underestimated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve seen the street \u2013 it\u2019s really bougie,\u201d she says, referring to the slang term for \u201cbourgeois\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve texted a few people I know who live there and they\u2019ve said: \u2018What the f**k?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

The DUP are quite cynically trying to out-TUV the TUV<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Jake Mac Siacais of Irish-language development agency Forbairt Feirste.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The vandalism comes just weeks after controversy erupted over a vote carried at the council on a new draft policy to extend the use of Irish on signage at all its facilities, including a new bilingual logo on council vehicles and workers\u2019 uniforms.<\/p>\n

There was an outcry among unionists, with the hardline Traditional Unionist Voice<\/a> (TUV) accusing the local authority of forcing the Irish language on communities who \u201cdon\u2019t want it\u201d.<\/p>\n

The TUV\u2019s Ron McDowell condemned what happened in Shandon Park but told the BBC it was \u201cprobably the most predictable crime in Northern Ireland\u201d.<\/p>\n

DUP leader Gavin Robinson<\/a> said as a \u201cshared city\u201d, his party would not stand in the way of anybody trying to speak Irish but argued they did not want the language \u201cfoisted\u201d upon the \u201cvast majority who have no interest or knowledge\u201d.<\/p>\n

Threats by loyalist paramilitaries to launch an arson campaign to destroy Irish signage on council premises were also reported a fortnight ago. DUP Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly<\/a> dismissed them, saying there was \u201cno evidence\u201d for it.<\/p>\n

Leading figures within the Irish-language community in Belfast have rounded on unionist leaders, accusing them of using rhetoric that is \u201cemboldening\u201d loyalists in their actions.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnionist parties are all vying with each other to be the staunchest within unionism, and the DUP are quite cynically trying to out-TUV the TUV,\u201d says Jake Mac Siacais, director of Irish-language development agency Forbairt Feirste.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more that they continue with this anti-Irish message, the more they are encouraging lawlessness. They need to rein it in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belfast is a \u201cchanging city\u201d, says Mac Siacais, a fact reflected in a council once dominated by a unionist majority but where there are now only 17 out of 60 councillors.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor unionism to keep raising the temperature around what is a simple act of inclusion and a simple act of celebrating the diversity of the city, it serves their own people ill,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"JakeJake Mac Siacais, director of Forbairt Feirste. Photograph: Liam McBurney <\/p>\n

Neither the DUP nor TUV responded when asked by The Irish Times about concerns raised by residents and the Irish-language sector.<\/p>\n

For those living in east Belfast, there are growing fears within the unionist community about speaking out publicly in support of the Irish language.<\/p>\n

Since summer there has been a shift in mood due to the rise in far-right politics, according to one resident.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore widely at the moment, things are very feral,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

East Belfast resident and former UUP director of communications Alex Kane agrees there\u2019s an element within loyalism that\u2019s \u201calmost afraid of change\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut change is not necessarily a bad thing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are coming to east Belfast in the past 10-15 years in a way they never did before. I fell in love with the place because it was so mixed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there are people whose only purpose is to stir things up, we also see this happening within English nationalism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet change is happening, despite loyalist opposition.<\/p>\n

Just over a mile from Shandon Park is east Belfast\u2019s first integrated Irish-medium primary school, Scoil na Seolta<\/a>, founded by Linda Ervine<\/a>, an Irish-language activist from a Protestant background.<\/p>\n

A group representing loyalist paramilitaries protested against the school being built but it opened its doors last month.<\/p>\n

East Belfast GAA was founded during the Covid pandemic and despite being subjected to pipe bomb threats and intimidation, its members continue to swell.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at the dynamic in the city, the Irish-language revival is open \u2013 it spans the city,\u201d says Mac Siacais.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no desire to swamp anyone\u2019s sense of identity; there\u2019s no compunction on anyone to start learning Irish and we\u2019re not putting Irish up as a counter to English.\u201d<\/p>\n

One Shandon Park resident from a unionist background previously lived in Scotland and Wales \u201cwhere the indigenous language is celebrated\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should be able to do the same thing here,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t speak Irish but it\u2019s definitely on my to-do list. I don\u2019t feel threatened by it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On a tree-lined street in east Belfast, two metal poles beside a neat hedge are the only reminder…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131607,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[663,9,10,78965,13,14,40332,6,26303,11,12,15,16,5,954,952,7,8,51350,39896,65,66,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-131606","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-belfast","9":"tag-breaking-news","10":"tag-breakingnews","11":"tag-emma-little-pengelly","12":"tag-featured-news","13":"tag-featurednews","14":"tag-gavin-robinson","15":"tag-headlines","16":"tag-irish-language","17":"tag-latest-news","18":"tag-latestnews","19":"tag-main-news","20":"tag-mainnews","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-northern-ireland","23":"tag-police-service-of-northern-ireland-psni","24":"tag-top-stories","25":"tag-topstories","26":"tag-traditional-unionist-voice","27":"tag-ulster-unionist-party","28":"tag-world","29":"tag-world-news","30":"tag-worldnews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}