A funding dispute has surfaced between DUP Communities Minister Gordon Lyons and Sinn Féin over the Northern Ireland Place-Name Project. The project, based at Queen's University Belfast since 1987, researches origins and meanings of over 30,000 local place names, including Irish, Ulster-Scots and English ones. It supports councils with translations for bilingual street signs.

In 2022, responsibility for the project transferred from the Department of Finance to the Department for Communities, with funding provided until 31 March 2026. The Department of Finance stated the transfer included an understanding that Communities would handle longer-term funding.

Lyons stated he made no decision to end the £90,000 annual funding. He said the Department of Finance funded it for four years and stopped this year, transferring it without ongoing support. Due to staffing changes at Queen's University Belfast, notional funding until June 2026 could not be used.

Sinn Féin MLA Colm Gildernew, chairman of Stormont's communities committee, raised concerns earlier this year. Lyons told Gildernew in response to an Assembly question that funding continued until summer 2026, with future options under review.

The project website states it is winding down after funding ended. It no longer responds to enquiries or translation requests but keeps its database accessible to researchers.

The Department for Communities said no baseline budget transferred in 2022. It provided funding in 2025/26 per original terms, submitted a bid for 2026/27, and is considering long-term options plus interim measures.

Records show former Sinn Féin Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey requested resource transfer with the project in January 2022. Funding came from then-Finance Minister Conor Murphy until this year.