’Daft’ signs

Councillor calls Irish-only road signs ‘daft’

Anton McNulty

THE former Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Cllr Gerry Coyle, has called for English place names to be added to the signposts for Gaeltacht areas, stating that Irish-only signs are confusing for tourists visiting the area.
Following the Official Languages Act 2003, all signposts in Gaeltacht areas use the Irish version of the place name only, with the English place name removed. Signs pointing to Belmullet, for example, now have only Béal an Mhuirthead written on them, and Cllr Coyle claims that, in most cases, signs do not match with the names on the maps.
The Geesala-based councillor said that thousands of euro are being spent on marketing Erris and Belmullet as tourist destinations. However, he said that these names are being marketed using their English name, yet, according to the Languages Act, these places do not exist.
“All the signs leading to Erris are in Irish and it is crazy that people looking for Belmullet on the map cannot find it on the sign. It was lunacy to change the signs and both names should be on it. The turn-off for Belmullet at Castlebar has the Irish version and I know of visitors who have ended up going to Newport because they do not recognise the sign. We are spending thousands of euro marketing the Belmullet region to bring as many tourists to the place and they cannot find it. It is pure daft.
“Lots of people have been saying this to me and every day at least five or six people stop at my garage asking me where Belmullet is. I heard of people travelling to Binghamstown and driving right through it because the Irish is An Geata Mór. I am not against the Irish language but there are better things the Council should be doing than spending money changing the signs on the roads,” he said.
However, Mr Edmund McAndrew, Secretary of Erris Tourism, which owns Carne Golf Links, told The Mayo News he did not believe the lack of English signposts had affected their business. Eleven thousand people visited Carne golf links last year with over 50 per cent of them coming from outside Ireland. Mr McAndrew said that most people visiting the area knew it was a Gaeltacht area and he never heard of any of his patrons missing the turn for Belmullet.
“In general, I think there is a lack of signs in the Erris area but I don’t think the Irish signs have affected us. We have the Irish version on our signposts but it also has the flag symbol on it and is easily understood. We do market our product using the English names but our brochure also has the Irish name on the logo. We feel this is unique and a good marketing tool for us when attracting overseas’ visitors. Most people are aware we are in an Irish-speaking area and we would not have a problem with the signs in Irish,” he said.