Shalom from the Village: Belfast’s Street Sign Shenanigans…

The Irish News reports that Belfast City Council’s controversial policy on bilingual street signs has gone international with applications for signage displaying Japanese, Mandarin and Hebrew.

Mandarin makes sense; Belfast has a sizeable Chinese community. Japanese? Well… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But it was Hewbrew that caught my eye. From the article:

Meanwhile, applications for Hebrew have been received for both Tates Avenue in south Belfast, and the nearby Ebor Street in the loyalist Village area.

Now, I pass through Tates Avenue fairly regularly, and I’ve yet to spot a synagogue, a bagel shop, or even so much as a stray yarmulke. No visible signs of a thriving Jewish community — unless it’s a very stealthy one.

So, what’s going on here? Could it be that these applications aren’t about celebrating cultural diversity at all, but are just a low-effort way to wind up Catholics, many of whom are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause?

Nothing says “petty Belfast culture war” quite like weaponising a street sign.

Personally, I don’t care if the signs are in Irish, Ulster Scots or Klingon, but I get a shock when the Irish News article said:

It has been reported that the overall cost of approving and erecting a street sign is up to £1,000.

Say what?? A grand per sign? What are they made from gold or something?

Brian O'Neill

Managing Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.