Conradh na Gaeilge claimed the fees were “wasted defending the indefensible”
06:00, 07 May 2026
Pictured outside the High Court are Left to right. Iris Hagan with her grandson Nóe Ó hÁgáin-Fontes, granddaughter Macha Ní Ágáin-Fontes, and daughter Róisín Ní Ágáin-Fontes.(Image: Jonathan Porter/PressEye)
A council has allegedly “squandered” more than £90,000 of tax-payers money in defending a legal battle to get bilingual street signage erected in Portadown’s nationalist Garvaghy Road area, it was claimed on Wednesday.
Irish language campaign group Conradh na Gaeilge hit out after the legal costs spent by Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon (ABC) Borough Council were revealed.
Earlier this year, grandmother Iris Hagan claimed victory in a High Court challenge she mounted after the local authority rejected an application for dual signs at Woodside Hill in the town.
Judicial review proceedings against ABC were formally ended after it was confirmed that a fresh request had been ratified.
Following the outcome, Conradh na Gaeilge submitted a Freedom of Information request for the amount spent by the Council on legal and consultancy fees.
A response has now confirmed that the total legal costs incurred in the case were £76,630 plus VAT.
Conradh na Gaeilge claimed the fees were “wasted defending the indefensible” after unionist councillors had blocked the overwhelming consent of local residents in Woodside Hill.
The group’s language rights co-ordinator, Cuisle Nic Liam, said: “A DUP-led council has squandered (almost) £92,000 of tax-payers money in their failed attempt to deny a dual-language sign.”
Under local authority rules, petitions must obtain an initial support of 33% of residents, and then be backed by at least two thirds of households on the electoral register.
Campaigners insisted the required level of support was obtained, with the overwhelming majority of those living in Woodside Hill backing the proposal.
Mrs Hagan launched court action after a majority of councillors voted against the petition.
Her lawyers claimed the decision was irrational and based on opposition among unionist parties to Irish language street signs.
At one stage in proceedings it was contended that the decision had been taken in secret because minutes of the Council’s planning committee were not properly disclosed.
But the challenge ended after the dual-language sign application for Woodside Hill was approved at a meeting in February.
Based on its calculation of the legal costs plus associated VAT, Conradh na Gaeilge said the disclosure came just days after a row broke out over funding for a project which helps councils with Irish-English street sign translations.
DUP Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has denied cutting the £90,000 annual grant for the scheme.
However, Ms Nic Liam claimed: “This is very much a tale of the DUP on one hand stopping £90,000 for the Place-names Project, while wasting £92,000 in attempting to block dual-language signage, and failing to do so. The significance of that will not be lost on anyone.
“To us, this illustrates again a party blinded by bigotry, who are willing to go to extreme lengths to oppose the Irish language.”
Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council was approached for comment.
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