Irish language parts of Northern Ireland street signs vandalised in ‘hate crimes’

Police in Northern Ireland are treating the defacement of dual language street signs in the Cookstown area as a sectarian hate crime.

A number of signs in the Mid-Ulster town have had the Irish language portion covered in paint recently.

They are among more than 200 signs targeted in the area over recent years.

A recent BBC report suggested that just under 300 Irish and English language street signs had been defaced across Northern Ireland over the last five years with the vast majority of the acts of targeted vandalism taking place across mid-Ulster.

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Police in the region have appealed for information and witnesses to the incidents of criminal damage across the district.

“We have received reports that signs in the Mullaghbane Road and Cullenramer Road areas of Dungannon and the Derrygonigan Road and Mawillan Road areas of Cookstown have been damaged recently,” said Chief Inspector Ryan McConville.

He said the acts of criminal damage were being investigated “as sectarian hate crimes. We are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed suspicious activity in any of the listed areas, or who may have relevant CCTV, dashcam or doorbell footage, to get in touch with police”.