A DUP attempt to halt the erection of Irish and English dual-language street signs at Sicily Park in south Belfast has been defeated at a full meeting of Belfast City Council.

The signs were approved by a council committee in November, but the decision was challenged after it emerged that more residents on the street had opposed the move than supported it. A new poll called by the DUP failed to overturn the committee's decision. Votes from the DUP, UUP, TUV and Alliance were insufficient to match those from Sinn Féin, the SDLP, the Green Party, independents and People Before Profit.

The original committee decision covered 49 streets across the city: 48 for Irish and English signage and one for Ulster Scots and English. All 49 met the 15 percent threshold required under council policy, but Sicily Park was the only street where more residents were against the signs than in favour.

According to the survey of 357 residents at Sicily Park, 96 occupiers (27 percent) supported the signs, 120 (34 percent) were opposed and eight (2 percent) had no preference.

DUP councillor Sarah Bunting told the chamber that more residents had voted against the signs than for them and argued their views should carry weight. She said her party had opposed the reduction of the threshold to 15 percent because it allowed proposals to proceed with limited support. Meeting the threshold, she added, should not be treated as an instruction to erect signs regardless of opposition or the potential impact on community relations. She proposed that the council not proceed with the new signage at Sicily Park.

Sinn Féin councillor Ciaran Beattie said the policy was not a referendum and was about demonstrating 15 percent support. He noted that Sicily Park had double that level of support, with 96 residents in favour on one street. He also compared the situation to Ulster Scots signs on Ravenscroft Avenue, which he said received 17 percent support.

A council officer report on the street signs noted that one resident had described Sicily Park as a main access road to the Taughmonagh Estate, a majority loyalist area. The resident expressed concern that erecting Irish signs could lead to vandalism and civil unrest in an area of mixed religious and political beliefs that is normally peaceful.