Olympia signage test

Table 1: Schools and pupils taught in the medium of language

	No. of establishments	No. of pupils 2014/15
Naíscoileanna (Nursery/Pre-School Units)	13	442
Gaelscoileanna (Primary Schools/Units)	9	1,194
Gaeloideachas Dara Leibhéil (Secondary Stream)	1	580
Youth club provision	7	760
Total	30	2,976

In addition, there are also currently 16 secondary schools teaching Irish within the Council area.

Q.1 Which of the following languages would you like to see on external naming signage for; (please tick one for each leisure centre as follows):

Table 2: External naming preferences: Overall sample by centre

Andersonstown LC		No. of responses	% of responses
1	English Only	778	22.9
2	English and Irish	2270	66.9
3	English and Ulster-Scots	25	0.7
4	English, Irish and Ulster-Scots	213	6.3
5	No preference	90	2.7
	TOTAL	3393	100

Lisnasharragh LC		No. of responses	% of responses
1	English Only	901	26.6
2	English and Irish	2028	59.8
3	English and Ulster-Scots	54	1.6
4	English, Irish and Ulster-Scots	278	8.2
5	No preference	97	2.9
	TOTAL	3393	100

Olympia LC		No. of responses	% of total responses
1	English Only	877	25.8
2	English and Irish	2035	60.0
3	English and Ulster-Scots	39	1.1
4	English, Irish and Ulster-Scots	314	9.3
5	No preference	87	2.6
	TOTAL	3393	100

Templemore LC		No. of responses	% of total responses
1	English Only	907	26.7
2	English and Irish	2001	59.0
3	English and Ulster-Scots	60	1.8
4	English, Irish and Ulster-Scots	290	8.5
5	No preference	101	3.0
	TOTAL	3393	100

Differences in patterns of response between the two main communities were stark (see Table 3 below). Among those who self-declared as Catholic, 80.1% showed a preference for external signage in English and Irish, and this figure rose to 88.7% in the case of Andersonstown. Among those self-declared as Protestant, 85.4% supported English only signage for Lisnasharragh, Olympia and Templemore, although this figure dropped to 73.7% for Andersonstown. Around half of those who stated neither religion showed support for English and Irish, rising to 60.4% for Andersonstown.

Table 3: External naming preference by community background⁵ by centre

Andersonstown LC		Protestant		Catholic		Neither
Andersonstown LC		No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
1	English Only	571	73.7	20	1.5	162	27.0
2	English and Irish	72	9.3	1165	88.7	362	60.4
3	English and Ulster-Scots	11	1.4	5	0.4	8	1.3
4	English, Irish and Ulster-Scots	41	5.3	114	8.7	56	9.3
5	No preference	75	9.7	4	0.3	10	1.7
6	Not answered	5	0.6	5	0.4	1	0.2
	TOTAL	775	100	1313	100	599	100
Lisnasharragh LC		Protestant		Catholic		Neither
Lisnasharragh LC		No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
1	English Only	671	86.6	24	1.8	178	29.7
2	English and Irish	32	4.1	1021	77.8	309	51.6
3	English and Ulster-Scots	35	4.5	10	0.8	9	1.5
4	English, Irish and Ulster-Scots	28	3.6	170	13.0	77	12.9
5	No preference	5	0.7	65	5.0	23	3.8
6	Not answered	4	0.5	23	1.8	3	0.5
	TOTAL	775	100	1313	100	599	100

Olympia LC		Protestant		Catholic		Neither
Olympia LC		No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
1	English Only	652	84.1	24	1.8	173	28.9
2	English and Irish	33	4.3	1022	77.8	314	52.4
3	English and Ulster-Scots	23	3.0	7	0.5	8	1.3
4	English, Irish and Ulster-Scots	30	3.9	197	15.0	83	13.9
5	No preference	28	3.6	42	3.2	17	2.8
6	Not answered	9	1.2	21	1.6	4	0.7
	TOTAL	775	100	1313	100	599	100

Templemore LC		Protestant		Catholic			Neither
		No.	%	No.		%	No.		%
1	English Only	670	86.5		27	2.1		181	30.2
2	English and Irish	31	4.0		1000	76.2		306	51.1
3	English and Ulster-Scots	36	4.7		16	1.2		8	1.3
4	English, Irish and Ulster-Scots	24	3.1		181	13.8		81	13.5
5	No preference	9	1.2		66	5.0		21	3.5
6	Not answered	5	0.7		23	1.8		2	0.3
	TOTAL	775	100		1313	100		599	100

Differences between those who identified as either Irish or British were significant and broadly parallel the findings for community background. For those who stated their national identity as British, around 90% preferred English only external signage for Lisnasharragh, Olympia and Templemore, although this figure dropping slightly for Andersonstown (78%). In contrast, 90% of those who self-identified as Irish showed preference for English and Irish signage in Andersonstown, with around 78% choosing this option for the other three centres.

Table 4: External naming preferences by national identity by centre

Andersonstown LC		British		Irish		NI		Other
Andersonstown LC		No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
1	English Only	566	78.0	14	0.9	166	22.7	10	3.2
2	English and Irish	44	6.1	1455	89.6	92	47.7	21	95.2
3	English and Ulster-Scots	13	1.8	5	0.3	6	0.0	0	0.1
4	English, Irish and U-Scots	29	4.0	141	8.7	31	22.7	10	0.3
5	No preference	69	9.5	4	0.3	12	6.8	3	0.3
6	Not answered	5	0.7	5	0.3	1	0.0	0	0.9
	TOTAL	726	100	1624	100	308	100	44	100

Lisnasharragh LC		British		Irish		NI		Other
Lisnasharragh LC		No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
1	English Only	650	89.5	20	1.2	195	63.3	10	22.7
2	English and Irish	17	2.3	1274	78.5	66	21.4	19	43.2
3	English and Ulster-Scots	35	4.8	10	0.6	9	2.9	0	0.0
4	English, Irish and U-Scots	17	2.3	218	13.4	30	9.7	10	22.7
5	No preference	4	0.6	77	4.7	6	2.0	5	11.4
6	Not answered	3	0.4	25	1.5	2	0.7	0	0.0
	TOTAL	726	100	1624	100	308	100	44	100

Olympia LC		British		Irish		NI		Other
Olympia LC		No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
1	English Only	636	87.6	18	1.1	187	60.7	10	22.7
2	English and Irish	17	2.3	1280	78.8	67	21.8	19	43.2
3	English and Ulster-Scots	22	3.0	8	0.5	8	2.6	0	0.0
4	English, Irish and U-Scots	18	2.5	248	15.3	32	10.4	12	27.3
5	No preference	24	3.3	48	3.0	12	3.9	3	6.8
6	Not answered	9	1.2	22	1.4	2	0.7	0	0.0
	TOTAL	726	100	1624	100	308	100	44	100

Templemore LC		British		Irish		NI		Other
Templemore LC		No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
1	English Only	651	90.0	25	1.5	195	63.3	10	22.7
2	English and Irish	16	2.2	1254	77.2	60	19.5	19	43.2
3	English and Ulster-Scots	34	4.7	15	0.9	10	3.3	1	2.27
4	English, Irish and U-Scots	15	2.1	231	14.2	32	10.4	9	20.5
5	No preference	5	0.7	75	4.6	10	3.3	5	11.4
6	Not answered	5	0.7	24	1.5	1	0.3	0	0.0
	TOTAL	726	100	1624	100	308	100	44	100

Language	Council Area					Northern Ireland
	*District Electoral Area*		*Ward*
	Botanic	Balmoral	Musgrave	Blackstaff	Windsor
Irish*	15.6%	12.0%	18.6%	3.6%	14.6%	12.4%
Ulster Scots*	6.7%	6.7%	5.4%	8.1%	7.5%	10.4%
English not 1^st	9.7%	3.2%	4.2%	9.4%	12.2%	4.6%
* Note: Indicates some knowledge of the language (Population aged 3+ yrs.)

Map showing District Electoral Areas of Belfast and the wards within them.