THE proposed introduction of new Irish language signs at Grand Central Station in Belfast has been paused due to legal action according to Translink, the body in charge of public transportation in Northern Ireland.
The delay comes in the wake of comments made by DUP leader Gavin Robinson, who said that the decision to approve an additional £150,000 in funds for the station was ‘bad process’ by Sinn Féin Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins. This is on top of the £340 million which has already been spent on the station’s construction and opening last September.
Since then, loyalist activist Jamie Bryson has lodged a formal legal challenge to initiate a judicial review against the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), saying that the decision to introduce Irish language signage was ‘without executive approval’.
Mr Bryson claims to have begun the process of taking legal proceedings last week over what he says is a ‘significant, controversial and divisive’ decision to ‘impose’ the Irish language in a public setting.
The DFI was informed of an ‘urgent application’ made to the High Court to seek an injunction against the signage. Translink has now confirmed that design work has ceased for the time being.
A statement from the organisation said: “The options to include Irish language on ticket vending machines would need to be further explored with the supplier. The options could include adding this to the current offering or making a substitute.”
Despite evident opposition to Ms Kimmins’ decision to implement Irish language signage at the Belfast station, Mr Robinson played down any notion of ‘a crisis’ within the Stormont executive.
The DUP leader even said that plans were underway to amend the ticketing system, which would incorporate an Irish language option. He said that his opposition to Ms Kimmins’ decision was not motivated by ideology, but rather by a perceived wastage of public money.
“[The current plans would] require them to remove the foreign language options that are already inbuilt for tourists coming to Northern Ireland who don’t have English as their first language,” he said, adding that such a move would be was ‘a nonsense’.
