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McDonald's self-service orders in Welsh, but not Irish

McDonalds criticised over move
McDonalds criticised over move McDonalds criticised over move

IRISH speakers wishing to order a ‘mac mór’ (Big Mac) or ‘béile shona’ (Happy Meal) were left disappointed after a leading McDonalds outlet in Belfast omitted the language from the choice of six on offer at the self-service kiosk.

Teenagers from the Glór na Móna group, an Irish language community group in Upper Springfield in west Belfast, posted photos of the self-service kiosk at the Boucher Road branch, where Welsh, but not Irish, is one of the available options.

Self-service kiosks are a recent feature in some of the McDonalds restaurants, such as the Boucher Road outlet, which opened last summer.

Sinn Féin councillor and former Belfast Lord Mayor, Niall O’Donnghaile, said he was keen to explore options for Irish provision at the kiosk with McDonalds, claiming the west Belfast group were left "disappointed" that there was no Irish option.

Councillor O’Donnghaile said: "It may be an idea for McDonald’s going forward. They should look at the statistics which show the portion of the population who speak Irish."

He added: "It makes perfect sense, and moreover it is good business and common decency."

The east Belfast representative pointed to the example of Bank of Ireland ATMs in the city, which offer a dual language Irish and English service.

Mr O’Donnghaile said: "Getting Irish put in wouldn’t be a big cost to people. I am not looking at putting it into Connswater, for example, but there may be a case for the Westwood Centre."

However, many social media users queried whether such a move would be worth the expense.

One woman wrote: "Would all firms recoup their expense? Are there THAT many Gaeilgeoirí?"

In response, the former Sinn Féin Mayor said that the "custom" from Irish speakers would pay for installation costs.

He said: "How many Welsh speakers are there in Belfast?"

A spokesman for McDonalds said that the same self-service kiosk model had been installed at all applicable stores across the UK, but added that the company would examine the possibility of including Irish.

He said: "The same languages are used across all of our self-service kiosks in the UK. Through our work with the Welsh Government and their Language Commissioner we include the Welsh language on this list in line with other businesses in Wales."

The spokesman added: "Whilst Irish is not included on our kiosks at this time, we greatly value the opinions of our customers and the communities in which we operate and will take all points raised into consideration."