'Londonderry' and 'Northern Ireland' road signs damaged dozens of times

A damaged 'Welcome to Northern Ireland' road sign

Road signs with the words Northern Ireland or Londonderry have been reported missing or damaged dozens of times in recent years.

More than 50 reports of issues with signs referencing Londonderry were recorded by roads officials since 2019, according to figures obtained by BBC News NI, with a further 15 reports in relation to signs referring to Northern Ireland.

The place names have long been a point of contention across the political divide between some unionists and nationalists.

The figures emerge amid continued disputes at Stormont and at local councils over the display of Irish on bilingual street signs.

One bilingual street sign in Belfast was recently sliced with an angle grinder, removing the Irish translation.

Police are investigating the incident as "hate-motivated criminal damage".

Figures previously obtained by BBC News NI revealed Irish language and bilingual street signs had been vandalised more than 300 times in five years.

A total of 52 reports of "defects" on road signs saying Londonderry were recorded by the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) since 2019.

The records include reports of graffiti, damage, and signage going missing, according to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

A graffitied 'Londonderry' road sign

It was also discussed on the new BBC Sounds podcast Borderland: UK or United Ireland?

In the series, former Sinn Féin MP Michelle Gildernew criticised the "scrubbing out" of Irish on bilingual street signs.

Former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP Ian Paisley also expressed concern, but asked Ms Gildernew if she was similarly "offended" by Londonderry signs being damaged.

Ms Gildernew responded: "I see that as a perspective on the city was originally called Derry, and that's what it should be called."

DfI did not say whether any of the recorded issues were reported to police, or how much it cost to repair or replace the road traffic signs.

In a statement, the department said: "It is an offence under the Road Traffic Regulation (NI) Order 1997 for a person to unlawfully and intentionally interfere with or damage a sign.

"The department must prioritise safety-related maintenance to ensure the limited funding we have is targeted at areas of greatest need."

DfI also outlined in its FOI response how the incidents were a very small fraction of the overall number of traffic sign defects reported.

It said there were more than 3,600 defects recorded during routine inspections since 2019 in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area.

Dual-naming policy delay

Meanwhile, it has emerged a report on a proposed "dual-naming" policy for road signage has yet to be completed more than three years after it was commissioned.

The review was announced in 2022 after the then infrastructure minister was asked whether he would consider including "Derry" alongside "Londonderry" on road signage.

Sinn Féin's John O'Dowd at the time said his officials had been asked to "review the current approach with a view to moving to one that accommodates dual naming on traffic signs across the network".

DfI has said a draft report is "currently being developed" and "findings have not been submitted to the minister".

Social Democratic and Labour (SDLP) assembly member Mark H Durkan, who had floated the dual-naming idea for Londonderry road signs, described the delays as "incredibly disappointing".

He said it was "symptomatic of a culture of drift" within Stormont's infrastructure department.

"It's not difficult or controversial to allow road signage to reflect both Derry and Londonderry in a way that recognises the identity of everyone here," he added.

"It's a small step that would mean a great deal to many people in our city and beyond."

'Stroke city'

Northern Ireland was officially created in 1921 following the partition of the island of Ireland.

The London prefix was added to Derry when the city was granted a Royal Charter by King James I in the 1600s.

The use of Londonderry or Derry as the name of the city has long been a point of contention between unionists and nationalists in Northern Ireland.

References to Derry/Londonderry also gave rise to the jocular nickname Stroke City.

Instead of a hyphen or slash, a tilde symbol was used to separate the two names in branding when it became UK City of Culture in 2013.