Unionist-controlled Ballymoney Borough Council gave the go-ahead for the signs before Christmas on foot of legal advice and the threat of councillors being surcharged and now the signs have materialised.

The signs - which have gone up at Bellaghy Park, Dunloy; Glebe Park in Rasharkin and Scally Park, Loughgiel -have been welcomed by Dunloy-based Sinn Fein councillor Anita Cavlan.

But Traditional Unionist Voice councillor Audrey Patterson - who was one of two councillors to vote against the move at the Council last year when several DUP and other Unionist representatives abstained - indicated she is still unhappy at the arrival of the signs.
Councillor Patterson told the Times: "I voted against the signs and now they are here my mind hasn't changed."

Ballymoney has become the first Council area in the North Antrim constituency to erect such official signs. Bids by Sinn Fein to get such signs in the nearby nationalist-controlled Moyle Council failed over concerns about funding the project.
It is unknown how much money has been spent on the scheme in Ballymoney so far.

But Councillor Cavlan said she did not believe it is a huge amount.
"There was money set aside. It wouldn't be much more expense than ordinary signage," said the councillor.
She welcomed the arrival of the signs saying: "This is all to do with Section 75 equality legislation which allows for bilingual signage. The Council got quite a bit of legal advice and they still resisted and then more advice was taken.

"The people in the areas where the signs have gone up are very happy that they are up. I just hope now that the signs are up that people passing through wont vandalise them.
"It is nice to see the signs up. Bilingual signage is already in place in other areas of the North but I am proud we have made history in Ballymoney Borough by being the first place in the North Antrim constituency to get the signs.

"I would say it is only the start. That is three areas we have been approached in by people for signs but there will be more like the street I live in - Fassagh Park, Dunloy."

Fassagh Park, Dunloy, translates as Pairc Fassagh, Dun Lathai, and already Councillor Cavlan's profile on the Ballymoney Council website has her address in Irish and she gets her council documentation posted out with the address in Irish.

But it is clear Unionist councillors are unhappy with the Irish signs and the majority abstained from voting against the moves because if their combined votes had stopped the signage coming to Ballymoney area it would have opened the door for legal action to be taken against them.
Back in December last year five nationalist councillors voted for the signs but Rasharkin DUP councillor Roy Wilson along with Audrey Patterson, voted in a failed bid to get Ulster-Scots included on the signs in Dunloy, Rasharkin and Loughgiel.

Independent Unionist councillor Bill Kennedy, who previously voted against the Irish language signs, abstained from voting.
Ulster Unionists Tom McKeown and James Simpson also abstained as did the DUP contingent of Cecil Cousley, Frank Campbell, Ian Stevenson and Evelyne Robinson.

The route to getting the bilingual signs has been slow. The process began around two and a half years ago and it is clear that Unionists were aware that rejection of the council's own policy on the issue - which was brought on foot of legal advice - would mean they would be liable to be surcharged.

Sinn Fein accused Unionists of using delaying tactics throughout the process.
During December's meeting a bid by Councillor Wilson to get Ulster-Scots erected on the signs failed.

Residents in the areas in Loughgiel, Dunloy and Rasharkin were surveyed and in line with the Council's policy the required majority of people responding gave the green light for Irish signs.
Also in December, Councillor Wilson asked the Council to consider ensuring that the Irish language words on the street signs are no greater than a third of the size of what he called the "mother tongue" English.

The Irish language lettering on the signs is around 50 per cent the size of the English letters.
In December, after a vote, Councillor Wilson received support from DUP councillor Ian Stevenson in his 'size matters' bid along with Audrey Patterson but again with the abstentions of the rest of the Unionist contingent the five nationalist rejected the 'one third size' bid.

In December Councillor Wilson said Protestants in Glebe Park, Rasharkin, had contacted him about the situation and he would not be silenced on the issue.
Last year Councillor Stevenson said the signs were a waste of money and said if people want to learn Irish they could do so at school but that nothing would be learned from a street sign.

Councillor James Simpson (Ulster Unionist) had said the Irish language belongs to all the community but he felt Sinn Fein had hijacked it.
Also in the pre-Christmas meeting, Councillor Frank Campbell (DUP) said he was abstaining in the vote because support would be seen as wasting money on road signage he considered unnecessary.

In the past there had been hints in the Moyle area that if Irish language signs go up bids could come in for Ulster-Scots on signs in the Bushmills area.

It remains to be seen if a similar situation will now arise in the Ballymoney area.
This week, Ian Stevenson commented further to the Times on the Irish signs.

He said: "I myself think it is just a political move on behalf of Sinn Fein. I believe that the Irish language has been politicised and that these signs are put up to indicate an area is Republican and not for any love of the Irish language."

He added: "There are obviously better ways people could spend their money than promoting a political agenda. I can't see how any Irish language signs will help people learn Irish.

"It is a complete waste of money and sectarian in nature. The Irish language should not be sectarian. If people want to learn Irish they should do it in school instead of wasting Council money. Council has better things to spend money on like play areas and improving Council facilities.

"This is all to do with European legislation. We as a Council were over a barrel and facing potential legal action. If they are going to bring in bilingual signs it should apply to other languages like Ulster-Scots."