Dual English-Irish signs not wanted at south Belfast leisure centre, protestors told

A couple of dozen people gathered outside a south Belfast leisure centre on Friday evening to protest against the erection of dual English-Irish language signage.

Those gathered outside the Olympia Leisure Centre heard how the majority of people in the surrounding area are not interested in having the Irish language on signs at the facility that was developed out of communities rooted in Ulster-Scots, English - and some French.

“We are opposed to the dual signage sign. We are just not interested. They are not part of our culture, they are not part of our history,” veteran community activist Billy Dickson, of the Blackstaff Residents’ Association, told the gathering.

He added: “People from different organisations and groups are here. We do not want to let this die. We want that signage out. We want to keep it peaceful as long as we know something is going to be done to address this injustice on the people of this area.

Mr Dickson, delivering a short history of the ground, told the gathering local people began by heaping sand on to the land to make football pitches, before a makeshift community hall was put up.

Then, Mr Dickson added, the community began lobbying for a swimming pool, which developed into the leisure centre now standing in the shadow of Windsor Park.

“We discovered on the first of October when we were coming to our residents’ meeting the signage for the first time and our response was to have an initial protest,” Mr Dickson told the Irish News.

“There was no consultation with the local people. The Blackstaff Residents’ Association meet here once a month. Surely they could have told the association that these signs were going up.”

Councillor Ron McDowell, the TUV deputy leader, also addressed the crowd, arguing the leisure centre was built by the residents of the area but that their views were entirely ignored.

He tied the signage at the Olympia to the wider controversy over dual language street and other signs, claiming the issue has been politicised and is divisive.

Belfast City Council approved the erection of dual language signs at the leisure centre in September, 2024, after a long back and forth, both within City Hall and the courts.

Sinn Féin managed to pass a proposal at committee level three years previously, a move opposed by the DUP, whose members argued it would have a negative impact on the neighbouring community.

A representative for Irish language campaign group An Dream Dearg said earlier this week support for the signage at the centre was reflected in previous consultations which showed an “increasing support for a dual-language approach” and that “support for retaining the current English-only signage” decreased.

“That decision was subsequently supported by a large majority of elected councillors on Belfast City Council and passed through rigorous legal scrutiny,” the representative said.