Moves to get road signage across county ‘as Gaeilge’

Efforts by the Sinn Féin side of the house to have all road signage as Gaeilge have been thwarted somewhat after council chiefs highlighted the cost involved and the legal obligations of the local authority to comply with a directive on road signage from the Department of Transport.

The matter arose at this month’s meeting of Cavan County Council when Cllr Stiofán Conaty (SF) brought forward a motion that asked the local authority to adopt recommendations from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Gaeilge, An Ghaeltacht agus Pobal Labhartha na Gaeilge, on the visibility of the Irish language on road signage and road markings.

Cllr Conaty told those gathered that the issue of the visibility of the Irish language on roads was discussed at the last two meetings of the joint committee and recommendations were subsequently published that are to be adopted by local authorities.

“These markings present the Irish language to the public in a way that offers a real live use and application of the language, and increases both its visibility and relevance in society,” he continued.

“It is also the belief of the Oireachtas Joint Committee that these markings will significantly add to safety on our roads," added Cllr Conaty.

“Not all drivers can or will use GPS systems, which often fail in remote areas; looking at a GPS system on a phone at a junction is dangerous; and in the case of motorcyclists it’s not an option. These new road markings will come at limited extra costs and the recommendations have already received significant buy-in from stakeholders.”

Cllr Áine Smith (FF), an Irish teacher by profession, put her full support behind the motion. She also warned against government departments using Google Translate for the signage and markings in the first instance.

“I think it’s really important that if we are promoting the Irish language it’s evident in the environment and everywhere, really,” she remarked.

“As it stands, Irish is a working language in the European Union and, because of that, the language must be evident and that includes road signage and road markings. I would love to see Cavan County Council implement this and continue in its promotion of Gaeilge.”

Director of Services, Paddy Connaughton, then said that, while Cllr Conaty’s motion was “a worthy one”, caution around the matter is advised.

“As it stands, road signs and road markings for Cavan County Council are in accordance with a traffic signs manual, which is published by the Department of Transport and constitutes direction from the Minister for Transport,” continued the Director of Services.

“That is the statutory requirement. We will take on board the recommendations from the Oireachtas Joint Committee but I wouldn’t recommend that we adopt a blank acceptance of them.

“We have 3,000km of roads in the county so, if you were to take it that every road has a junction, you would be talking about 3,000 junctions minimum and that would be a considerable cost to the local authority. I’m not saying 'no' to it but it is something that would have to be implemented on a phased basis and it is also something that I will bring back to the Transport Strategic Policy Committee (SPC).”