Sinn Féin Pushes for Bilingual Signs in Belfast

0:00It's April 20, I'm Cory with the story, and this is Europe News Today News from Europe, powered by AI. Sin Fein is pushing Belfast City Council to approve dual English and Irish signs on University Street near Queens University, even though the survey only hit 14.28% support, falling short of the 15% threshold needed. The survey went out to 126 addresses with 18 in favor and zero objections, though most went unanswered. Sin Fein counselor Matt Garrett once the council to show discretion here, just like they have when thresholds are met, but signs get blocked. He's calling for a fresh survey, pointing to a recent Queens University student poll where over 90% backed by lingual signs at the student. Union Garrett argues the current process lacks balance, especially in a university area full of young voices. Meanwhile, there's a massive backlog of 922 streets waiting for dual language reviews with the council processing just eight per summary.

1:00Month. That's over nine and a half years to catch up. Officers propose closing repeat applications and setting a two-year wait for retries. But Sin Fein opposes it. All parties agreed to defer the policy decision and the university street update until next month's committee meeting, keeping the debate alive as the Q-grows.