DUP walkout over trans toilets and bilingual signs

DUP walkout over trans toilets and bilingual signs

4 June 2025

DUP councillors staged a walkout at Monday night’s meeting of Newry, Mourne and Down Council in protest over bilingual signs and transgender toilet issues in the district.

They left the monthly meeting after objecting to the new signs for almost 90 areas across the district.

They are also stepping away from the local authority’s Equality and Good Relations Committee until further notice.

The protest came after their motion calling on the council to ban transgender people from having rights to use council-owned female toilets was not debated and instead referred to the Good Relations Committee.

The motion was tabled by Rowallane councillor Jonny Jackson, leader of the DUP group, who said it was “really disappointing” the motion was not heard in the chamber.

“It is highly important, it is a Supreme Court ruling in our own land and it’s highly disappointing we are not having the opportunity to discuss it here tonight,” he said.

On the Irish signs ruling, Slieve Croob councillor Alan Lewis said he thought it “would be a fair guess to say that the council will be met with a fairly hefty repair bill”.

He continued: “We aren’t blind and we know that these signs have been damaged and wrecked in the past. But, let me be extremely clear, do I support them being vandalised? No, because it sends out the wrong message.

“But I think we are living in cloud cuckoo land if we don’t think these signs will be damaged.”

Slieve Gullion UUP councillor David Taylor expressed his concerns that the “equality committee has failed...I’m just sorry we couldn’t find a way forward”.

Alliance’s Tierna Howie said: “Across the British Isles, languages are embraced, asking why should Newry, Mourne and Down be different?”

The DUP said its decision to withdraw from the meeting was regrettable “due to the continued disrespect towards the party and those it represents by forcing through Irish signage without the consent of unionists and refusing to allow the DUP to debate important issues in full council meetings”.

In a statement issued after Monday’s meeting, the party said it has expressed its concerns with the council around installing Irish leading signage in towns where the vast majority of residents do not identify with or use the Irish language.

“In 2023, the council consulted District Electoral Area (DEA) Forums and yet despite not all DEAs in the council area voting for bilingual gateway signs, this has been completely ignored,” said Cllr Callum Bowsie.

“For six years we have engaged in this debate around gateway signage in good faith through the council’s Equality and Good Relations Reference Group (ECRPG) and have made clear we are willing to discuss how old Irish place names can be promoted in a fair and balanced manner so that all traditions are respected, and which reflects the delicate balance of community relations in Northern Ireland. 

“We have stressed that culture and language provisions must be about facilitation rather than imposition,” Cllr Bowsie continued.

“However, after 12 meetings on this topic in the EGRRG, once again it is the case of majority rule by Sinn Fein, SDLP and Alliance to systematically impose Irish signage in every town throughout the district, without any regard for the wishes of those communities, who are now expected to assimilate into another’s language and culture, which goes against the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

“After our best efforts to find consensus the outcome still results in majority rule, we believe we are wasting our time expressing our concerns via this private forum and we therefore are withdrawing from it until further notice”.

In relation to the motion on the Supreme Court ruling and its impact on the council approach to sexed toilets, he said it was “disappointing” that such an important and current issue was not allowed to be discussed in an open council meeting because it was deemed to be ‘controversial’ and must instead be discussed at the Good Relations group.

Cllr Bowsie added: “While our motion was denied a public debate, moments later a controversial motion from Sinn Fein which has nothing to do with this council regarding Irish presidential elections being extended to Northern Ireland was allowed to be fully debated during the same full council meeting.

“This is the disparity shown towards unionists on only one evening and doesn’t even scratch the surface of what our party has had to endure in Newry, Mourne and Down Council for many years. The inequality towards unionists is a persistent problem and must end.”