Belfast City Council is set to discuss the issuance of surveys for Irish language street signs on three streets at a committee meeting tonight. The streets are Fernwood Street, off Ormeau Road in the south of the city, Cliftonpark Avenue in lower Oldpark in the north, and Dromore Street off Cregagh Road in the east.

Under current council policy, dual-language signs can be erected if 15% of residents on a street indicate support through a survey. Any resident or councillor can submit an application to trigger the process.

Sinn Féin has recently proposed amendments to the policy. The party wants to remove the existing time limit that prevents a failed application from being resubmitted for several years. It also argues that only residents who respond to surveys should be counted, meaning a small number of replies in favour could be treated as 100% support.