AROUND 20 protestors held a demonstration this week against proposed dual-language English and Irish signs at Belfast’s Grand Central Station.
The £350 million state-of-the-art transport hub opened in September last year without Irish signage leading to a protest by language campaigners who staged a sit-in just days after the station officially opened.
Last month, Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins announced that Irish language signage will soon be erected at the Grosvenor Road facility. As well as the Irish language being included on physical signage at the transport hub it will also be available on all Translink ticket machines across the North.
Numerous social media accounts had urged residents living in the nearby Sandy Row to "make their voices heard" and respond to "stop Sinn Féin Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins on her solo run to force through Irish language" at the station.
In the event, only a tiny amount of protestors was present on Monday evening at the station in a turn-out that cast doubt on the extent of unionist opposition to Irish signage at the station.
The protestors held placards presenting the Ulster flag as 'Sandy Row's identity' and featuring a shoe marked 'Sinn Féin' stamping on 'community rights'.
The protestors' claim that the new station is a Sandy Row facility is debatable, to say the least. The current main entrance to Grand Central is considerably closer to nationalist homes on the Grosvenor Road than it is to Sandy Row.
Despite angry words from a number of unionist politicians over the decision to erect Irish language signage at the station, not a single political rep attended the demo.
Absent was the TUV’s sole MLA in the Assembly, Timothy Gaston, who's demanding a cross-community vote at Stormont in an attempt to scupper the new dual-language signage.
Also notable by his absence was DUP leader Gavin Robinson, who says the 150k earmarked for the new signage should be used to support struggling businesses in Sandy Row, which he said have been "devastated" by the station’s impact on the community.
Earlier this month Translink said work on proposed Irish language signage has stopped “pending potential legal action”, thought to be a reference to an attempt by the loyalist activist Jamie Bryson to seek a judicial review of the Infrastructure Minister's decision.
