Minister ‘confident of resolution’ over Irish language signs at new station

John O’Dowd attended the official opening on Monday of the facility, which welcomed its first passengers early on Sunday morning.

The station is set to open in phases, with train services to start later this year.

It is to become the largest integrated transport hub on the island of Ireland, replacing the Europa Bus Centre and the former Great Victoria Street Station.

Grand Central is expected to see around 20 million customer journeys each year as the main transport gateway to Belfast, and become a “game-changer” for public transport in Northern Ireland, allowing the capacity for expansion of services.

However there has been some criticism over the cost of the project, which has spiralled and is expected to be £340 million at completion.

There has also been disappointment among Irish language campaigners at a lack of signage in that tongue.

Mr O’Dowd said there will be a review of the project, and that talks around signage are continuing.

He said the official opening of the station is a “proud moment for this society”.

“I think this building sets Belfast up as a modern European city, it’s a statement of confidence in the region, and I think it’s also a statement of intent in terms of how we, as an Executive, how we as a society need to move towards a modus shift and use public transport more often,” he said.

“Public transport has to be accessible and has to be effective. This building allows for 20 million journeys a year, people will come through here in comfort, they will see it is a modern, airy, bright building, but we also have to get public transport right in rural Fermanagh.”

The minister said work needs to be done on services across Northern Ireland to ensure, for example, that Londonderry is on an equal footing with Belfast.

“There is planning and investment needed. The plans for that are in place, we’re rolling through that,” he said.

“We have a short, medium and long-term plan. The all-island rail review, as an example, is a long-term plan, but we’re already looking at feasibility studies for a rail connection to Belfast International Airport, from Derry to Dublin to Cork, from Derry to Portadown, and also the Armagh-Portadown line.”

In terms of the cost of the facility, Mr O’Dowd pointed out that it was built during the coronavirus pandemic and there have been extraordinary inflationary increases in terms of building materials.

“That’s part of the reason, but I have also asked my officials to do a review of the project for lessons learned. What lessons do we need to learn from delivering such a major project here in the heart of Belfast? There is already a review going on,” he said.

Mr O’Dowd said he is disappointed that agreement has not yet been reached around Irish language signage in the station but expressed confidence that it will be.

“I’m disappointed we haven’t reach a resolution to that yet,” he said.

“It’s important that the Irish language is visible. Belfast has a thriving Irish language community so it’s important that we have the visibility of the language. I’m working with Translink on that and I am confident that we will find a resolution.

“As a minister I have to use my powers wisely. Working with people is much more effective. There is a chief executive and a board whose job it is to run Translink and I am working with them through this matter.

“I am confident that this will be successfully resolved and we will see more visibility of the Irish language in this and other public buildings.”