Legal action against Belfast City Council’s Irish language strategy widens to ‘systemic challenge’, High Court told

Legal action over an Irish language strategy for Belfast has widened into a “systemic” challenge against the process for reconsidering key decisions taken by local councils across Northern Ireland, the High Court has heard.

Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) member Ann McClure is seeking a judicial review of Belfast City Council’s handling of a call-in procedure triggered after it voted to adopt the new blueprint.

Backed by loyalist activist Jamie Bryson, the case involves claims that opposition from 15% of elected representatives could be enough to block controversial decisions based on community impact concerns.

The policy aims to promote the use of Irish in public life, with bilingual signage and logos to appear on council facilities, signage and uniforms.

Unionists opposed to the development triggered the call-in mechanism which requires 15% of councillors to request a reconsideration.

The procedure involves seeking legal opinion on any potential community impact.

If those concerns are assessed as being valid, an 80% super-majority may be needed before the original proposal can be successfully passed again.

The draft Irish language policy for Belfast currently remains on hold pending the outcome of that process sometime early next year.

But Ms McClure is pressing ahead with her challenge based on claims the council has wrongly interpreted relevant sections of the Local Government (Northern Ireland) Act 2014.

Her lawyers contend the process is being unlawfully filtered and that a qualified majority is still required – irrespective of legal opinion on the merits of the call-in.

In another development, the case returned to court on Monday after the council voted last month to fly the Palestinian flag at Belfast City Hall.

Unionists again objected and used the call-in procedure to challenge the legitimacy of that decision.

Ms McClure’s barrister, Emma McIlveen, indicated to the court that proceedings have now developed into a wider challenge to the process and rules around the mechanism.

“The issue isn’t about the Irish language or Palestinian flags, it’s about the policy process,” she said.

Denise Kiley KC, for Belfast City Council, argued it would be premature to make any interim orders at this stage in the case.

She confirmed the Irish language policy decision is not due for reconsideration until January.

However, Ms Kiley also accepted: “There is an urgency to this simply because of the potential breadth of the call-in procedure.”

Adjourning the case, Mr Justice McLaughlin stressed that all relevant bodies should be represented.

The judge stated: “This does feel more like a systemic challenge, rather than a challenge to a specific decision.”

Mr Bryson, who attended the hearing, later claimed the council had adopted a different approach to advice from the Department for Communities.

Predicting the case will have ramifications for all local authorities in Northern Ireland, he said: “We say it is unlawful to put in place any filtering process on a call-in.

“Once a call-in is triggered, the decision by default requires a qualified majority to be sustained.”