Casework
Conradh na Gaeilge’s transparency triumph
Campaigners successfully challenged secretive council decision-making procedures at the First Tier (Information) Tribunal.
PILS member(s): Conradh na Gaeilge and CAJ
What did PILS provide: A legal opinion, advice and representation through the Pro Bono Register, and Litigation Fund financial support for an indemnity (to protect against any legal costs, if the challenge was unsuccessful).
Issue:
In September 2021, a Belfast City Council committee approved the erection of signage in Irish at the Olympia Leisure Centre. Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) council members, who were opposed to the move, then triggered a review process in January 2022.
Known as ‘call-in’, this process allows a council to set aside a previous decision if it is considered to disproportionately adversely affect a section of the local electorate. Before the decision can be reconsidered, the council needs to get advice from a solicitor or barrister on whether this adverse effect threshold has been met.
Naturally, this was a disappointing development for everyone who was in favour of installing signs in Irish. But this request to reconsider a decision on signage actually emphasises an even wider issue of concern: the Council was refusing to publish the legal advice it had relied on to back up its decision.
Irish language advocacy group Conradh na Gaeilge asked for the contents of the barrister’s correspondence in the ‘call-in’ to be released under a freedom of information request, but Belfast City Council refused. This refusal was upheld by the Information Commissioner – a decision which ultimately prompted CnaG’s appeal to the First Tier (Information Tribunal).
Supported by PILS and CAJ, CnaG requested that documentation – relied on by Belfast City Council to justify its decision to delay the introduction of signs in Irish at the leisure centre – be made publicly available to enable the decision-making to be properly scrutinised.
Conradh na Gaeilge’s appeal at the Information Tribunal was due to be heard on 24 August 2023. However, the appeal date had to be rearranged as the tribunal judge ordered that Belfast City Council be joined as a party to the proceedings. The Council was also ordered to respond to specific questions asked by the Tribunal.
The hearing took place on 15 January 2024.
Impact:
On 01 February 2024, the First Tier Tribunal ordered Belfast City Council to disclose the legal advice it relied on to block dual language signs at the Olympia Leisure Centre.
The practical impact of Conradh na Gaeilge’s successful challenge was felt within weeks: Belfast City Council published the legal advice it had previously refused to disclose, on three separate occasions.
The widespread media coverage generated by this appeal brought the little-understood ‘call-in’ mechanism out into the open.
Just weeks after the tribunal decision, CAJ and CnaG shared news of the success with a Council of Europe delegation from its COMEX committee, during a monitoring visit to Belfast.
https://x.com/CnaG/status/1760272126110466495
In October 2024, Belfast City Council re-took its decision in favour of installing signs in both Irish and English in the Olympia Leisure Centre. Once again, this decision was called in by DUP council members but the subsequent legal advice found that there was no merit in the suggestion that bilingual signage would ‘disproportionately affect adversely any section of the inhabitants of the district’.
Conradh na Gaeilge’s challenge was not only procedurally successful, but it also created an emotional moment of cultural and legal history.
During the appeal hearing in January 2024, witnesses introduced themselves to the tribunal members as Gaeilge. This is believed to be the first time Irish has been spoken in court in Belfast in almost 300 years. CAJ Director Daniel Holder later joined journalist William Crawley on BBC Radio Ulster’s Talkback to discuss the significance of this interaction: (interview starts at 42.15).
This was never solely about signage in a leisure centre. Ultimately, this challenge underlines how fair local government decision-making benefits us all.
Conradh’s na Gaeilge’s win is a victory for transparency.