The Irish wording on a dual-language street sign in Belfast City Centre has been spray-painted over in the latest attack on bilingual street signage.
The sign, on Marcus Ward Street, was approved in March 2024 at a meeting of Belfast City Council. In this most recent vandalism incident, "Sráid Mharcais Mhic an Bhaird" was sprayed out with black paint.
The sign sits just a few hundred metres from the well known Points Bar. In 2024, leaflets were placed on the cars of students attending an Irish class in the bar saying that "English is our mother tongue" and that most Irish people "should hate the Irish language".
Speaking about the vandalism, SDLP North Belfast Cllr Carl Whyte said it was "another disgraceful attack on the Irish language and the shared future we should all be working towards."
"Dual language signage threatens nobody," he continued, "and those who seek to erase it are firmly on the wrong side of progress.
"We should be celebrating the diversity of our communities, not allowing a small minority to drag us backwards."
