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Council plans for street signs in Portuguese

Dungannon has the highest proportion of migrants of any town in Northern Ireland
Dungannon has the highest proportion of migrants of any town in Northern Ireland Dungannon has the highest proportion of migrants of any town in Northern Ireland

STREET signs in languages from Polish to Portuguese could soon be seen in Tyrone and Derry under new council plans.

Mid Ulster council has put forward plans to allow for multi-lingual street signs if they are requested by enough residents in the local area.

The proposals could lead to street signs in Irish as well as Portuguese, Lithuanian, Polish – or any other language requested by householders.

Street names would be displayed in both English and a second language under the proposals.

Council papers show how a street sign might look in Portuguese, with 'Cunninghams Lane' translated to 'Beco Cunninghams'.

The examples also include 'Tonnaght Heights' alongside its Irish alternative 'Arda Thonnaigh'.

Councillors discussed the local authority's planned 'dual language' policy at an environment committee meeting last week.

According to the Tyrone Courier, any change would require 25 per cent of residents to respond to a consultation and a vote in favour from just over half of those respondents.

The Mid Ulster council area has the highest percentage of residents born outside Britain or Ireland at 6.4 per cent, according to Northern Ireland Strategic Migration Partnership.

The local authority area includes Dungannon, which has the highest proportion of migrants of any town in the north.

Migrants represented more than 10 per cent of area's the local population in 2011 – an increase from one per cent a decade earlier.