Eoghan Ó Conghaile is walking across the quad at Queen’s University Belfast with a big smile on his face.
Pink magnolia blossoms are in full bloom in a corner of the quiet courtyard where the sun has come out on a Thursday afternoon.
Ó Conghaile greets The Irish Times and points to his phone showing a member of rap trio, Kneecap.
“DJ Próvaí and Kneecap have just given us video support for our campaign,” he says, beaming.
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The Belfast student has become the face of the ‘Yes’ campaign in a referendum to reintroduce Irish-language dual signage in the university’s students’ union following its removal almost 30 years ago.
It was removed after opposition from some unionist students and a recommendation by the Fair Employment Commission for a more neutral working environment.
Online voting closes on Thursday evening and results are expected as early as Friday.
If the referendum passes, the university name will appear as Ollscoil na Banríona Béal Feirste, alongside the English-language equivalent, in an official bilingual logo.
Students will also be asked whether Irish and English should be given equal status by the university.
“This is a complete overhaul, we’re talking about a comprehensive standalone language policy within the university,” says Ó Conghaile, a member of An Cumann Gaelach, the Irish language society at Queen’s.
Much like the rollout of Irish- and English-language street signage across Belfast, the referendum has proved divisive.
Members of the university’s Young Unionists society say reintroduction of the bilingual signage would create a “chill factor”. Jay Basra, the society’s chair, has warned the move will lead to the students’ union becoming a “cold house for unionists”.
“I’ve no issue with the Irish language, it’s a language and people are entitled to learn it,” says Basra, who is also a member of the Orange and Ulster Scots societies at Queen’s.
“But I think there could have been a better way of going about this. We don’t think a student vote helps anything in terms of improving relations on campus.”
Before the Irish signage was removed from the students’ union in 1997, there was a reluctance among some unionists to take jobs or engage with the body, according to Basra.
“That chill factor still exists,” he adds. “I do think this will play into the wider debate over Irish dual-language signage and how it’s been politicised."
Another unionist student, Matthew Shanks, describes Irish-language signage as a way of “marking territory”.
“It’s akin to painting kerbs, hanging up flags,” he says.
Ó Conghaile disagrees.
Standing in the quad, the 21-year-old points to the Senate room, which he describes as the “most important decision-making room” in the magnificent red-brick Lanyon building.
We push open the door of the small meeting room, where a portrait of British King Charles hangs.
Outside, “VR 1848″ is engraved into the brickwork on a chimney breast – a permanent mark of remembrance to Queen Victoria, the university’s founder.
“I don’t want unionists to feel this is a cold house but I’d love some explanation as to how – it’s actually engraved in the physical infrastructure of the buildings around us. It’s in the brick work,” says Ó Conghaile.
“The university is named after Queen Victoria and [also features] the king in his full British military gear with all his medals in a portrait hanging in the Senate. The cenotaph is at the front entrance.
“People’s concerns are very important but I feel this chill factor claim has to be challenged. There is no bilingual signage. You’re talking about a fully monolingual campus.
“If the mere idea of the two languages co-existing together and the democratic pursuit of equality creates a chill factor for unionism, we can’t accommodate for that.”
Ó Conghaile, an Irish and politics student in second year, insists bilingual signage doesn’t take away anyone’s rights.
“We’re not talking about removing English language signs, we want the English there,” he added.
When he first came to Queen’s, it was a “bit of a culture shock” after being educated in Irish-medium schools.
“I want my education, that’s what’s important to me. But what’s also important to me is representation of my language that I speak every day.
“The university that we’re part of, and even our students’ union, is not reflective of the progressive changes happening across the city.
“A cultural revolution is taking place, the university is not reflecting that.”
Queen’s has been contacted for comment.
In December, the university released figures on the 227 per cent increase in the number of students registering for its Irish-language courses. As well as this, an Irish language officer based in the university’s language centre was appointed last year.
Across the road from Queen’s is the modern, glass-fronted students’ union building.
Some students approached admit they are unaware the referendum is taking place, while others are apathetic.
But Ciara Donnelly and Hamza Ally are eager to express their support.
“The signage should never have left Queen’s to be honest. Bit of a disgrace it did,” says Donnelly, a law and politics student.
She is unaware of any opposition.
“Everybody I’ve spoken to either don’t really care about it or welcome it,” she adds.
“There has been an explosion in the number of people speaking Irish, especially after Kneecap and the language revival.”
Ally is from Egypt and also studying law and politics.
“As an international student, coming to Ireland, the idea of learning Irish and seeing Irish was something I expected but didn’t really see,” he says.
“I’m not really being exposed to the culture here. So I honestly think it is a good idea to bring it back.”
Student Scarlett Murray says she has cast her vote.
“I voted in favour of it. People try to make the language a very divisive issue. It’s not and it should never have been,” she says.
“It’s hard when people view the Irish language as a threat.”
Ó Conghaile is rushing from the students’ union to his youth leader job at Glór na Móna, an Irish language project in west Belfast. The organisation received half the money Kneecap won in a case against the UK government last year.
A member of the project since he was eight, he says he wants to remind us that the founder of An Cumann Gaelach in 1906 was William McArthur, a “proud middle-class Protestant unionist”.
“He was a lieutenant general in the British army. He saw the importance of protecting, promoting and cherishing the Irish language,” adds Ó Conghaile.
“It’s also an indigenous language. The Irish language was here a long time before Queen’s . . . it’s everybody’s language.”
