The SDLP has begun a campaign to have Irish signs re-erected in the Students' Union building at Queen's University. Ms Brid Rodgers said the SDLP Youth branch would circulate a petition calling for a referendum on the issue of bilingual signs, which were taken down during the summer.
The Students' Union president, Mr Cormac Bakewell, said the signs were removed because they had proved "counterproductive".
Ms Rodgers, the chairwoman of the SDLP's negotiating team at Stormont, said the issue was about "parity of esteem". The failure to ensure parity of esteem between the two cultural traditions had been "one of the most significant contributing factors to the conflict" in Northern Ireland. She said it was a crucial issue that went to the heart of the problems in the North.
Ms Rodgers, who speaks Irish, said the issue of bilingual signs could not be compared to the controversial decision to stop playing the British national anthem at graduation ceremonies. The signs created a balance between the two cultures.
"They are not saying that there should not be English language signs. They are simply asking for the same esteem to be shown to those who relate to the Irish language."
She said esteem for the Irish language and culture should not be threatening to anybody.