Bilingual street sign damaged in Belfast ‘hate incident’ - but this time it’s the English name targeted

Police are investigating damage to a bilingual street sign in Belfast as a hate crime after the English name for the area was covered with spray paint.

The damaed sign in Moyard Park in the Springfield Road area of west Belfast has prompted a DUP MLA to question the police response, compared to incidents in which the Irish language on street signs is targeted.

The vandalism is due to be raised at an upcoming meeting of the Policing Board, although no report of damage to the sign was made by locals.

There has been a significant rise in bilingual street signs in Belfast and elsewhere being vandalised in recent years, with the Irish name for areas being painted over, scratched off, and in some cases physically cut out with power tools.

Last October, part of the Irish name for Shandon Park in east Belfast was removed with an angle grinder in what a local Sinn Féin councillor called a “disgraceful act of vandalism designed to stoke division and intolerance”.

Signs in the street have since had the Irish obscured with black paint and Union flag stickers in separate incidents.

In 2024, a bilingual sign in St Judes Square in south Belfast’s Ormeau area was cut in half with a power tool, while in nearby Haypark Parade, a bilingual sign was removed entirely – the third time in as many months the sign was targeted, having previously had the Irish lettering scratched off.

This week, the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party, Causeway Coast and Glens councillor Russell Watton, said “the grinders are sitting waiting” for signage featuring Irish in his area, during a debate over changing the threshold for residents securing new bilingual signs.

In Belfast, a change to the council’s bilingual signs policy in 2022 has led to a huge increase in successful applications for signs, including Irish names.

The policy has been criticised by unionist representatives, however, as the new rules mean just one resident of a street or a councillor is required to trigger a consultation of all residents, and just 15% then need to agree to a new sign before it can be ratified.

Under the previous policy, a third of residents were required to trigger the consultation, and two-thirds needed to agree that the sign would be erected.

In a social media post highlighting the sign vandalism in Moyard Park, DUP MLA and Policing Board member Trevor Clarke questioned the response to the vandalism.

It has emerged that police initially received no report of the sign being damaged.

“Irish language sign vandalised in East Belfast = forensics, police responds as if it’s a murder scene, appeals to the public for information on hate-related incident’, Mr Clarke said, referring to the attack on the sign at Shandon Park.

“Stephen Nolan breaking the news that there was a manhunt on for a 40 year old suspect.

“It was leading headlines, reported by BBC News, Belfast Live, Belfast Telegraph, RTE News, Belfast Newsletter, Irish News and so on.”

The South Antrim MLA continued: “English language sign vandalised in West Belfast = Nothing.

“Well if the media can’t paint Unionists as the bad guys and ‘oppressing the Irish language’ then best not to report on it.”

Mr Clarke added he “will be raising at the Policing Board why significant resources were used to investigate damage to a sign while this response has not been replicated across the country and would be most likely impossible to replicate”.

A PSNI spokesperson said: “Officers from Woodbourne Local Policing Team attended Moyard Park and spoke to residents about damage to bilingual street signs.