A senior member of the Students' Union at Queen's University, Belfast, has said it had no choice but to remove Irish language signs from the building following a warning from the North's Fair Employment Commission (FEC) that they were incompatible with a neutral working environment.
Nationalist politicians have expressed dismay but unionist politicians have welcomed the development. The Ulster Unionist deputy leader, Mr John Taylor, said: "At last sense is beginning to prevail at Queen's. There was no reason to have such signs other than as a display of intimidation by republican sympathisers at the university.
"It is not that one is against Irish. Irish is a culture which has to be respected but at the end of the day we have the 1991 census which shows that only 3 per cent of Northern Ireland people take an interest in Irish. In fact, more people speak Chinese to each other every day in Northern Ireland than speak Irish."
The bilingual signs were erected 10 years ago to provide equality of treatment for nationalist students. They were removed on Monday night following a report by a working group which received submissions from students and other interested parties, including the FEC.
A senior Students' Union source said: "The FEC said that the signs were in conflict with the provision of a neutral working environment. Unfortunately, it was a case of the union removing the signs before it was ordered to remove them." The source called for a debate on whether bilingual signs were compatible with a neutral working environment.
Welcoming the removal of the signs, the FEC chairman, Mr Bob Cooper, said they had led to a "chill factor" among Protestants students, with fewer applying for part-time jobs in the union. Criticising the "tokenism" of the signs, he added: "These in no way facilitated the spread of the use of the Irish language. Whatever the intent of its initiators, the signs' policy served only to demonise the language."
However, Sinn Fein's cultural affairs spokesman, Mr Gearoid O hEara, said: "This decision comes at a time when the nationalist population are striving to overcome the institutionalised discrimination to which they have been subjected since the foundation of the state.
"I call on the British minister responsible for education to immediately institute a policy of parity for the Irish language and culture in all places of education where both traditions share facilities."
A member of the SDLP talks team, Mr Patsy McGlone, said parity of esteem for cultures in the North should not mean one being undermined at the expense of the other. He said unionists would be better occupied promoting their own culture than seeking to diminish another tradition.
Mr Kevin McQuillan, of the Irish Republican Socialist Party, said: "This is a very retrogressive step. The fact that unionists can't even stomach bilingual signs shows the spirit in which they will be approaching talks next month at Stormont. So much for parity of esteem."
However, Mr Ray Mullan, of the Community Relations Council, welcomed the decision. While the Irish language should not be politicised, it was a fact that Protestants felt alienated by it. The Alliance Party said the removal of the signs was long overdue.
The Unionist Graduates Association said it was "a victory for common sense and fair employment". Mr Peter Weir, of the Ulster Young Unionist Council, said the university's bilingual policy had been the "epitome of sectarianism and cultural imperialism".
Bilingual stationery used by the union is also being abandoned. However, an Irish language worker will now be appointed in the union and a learning facility set up.
The president of the Queen's union, Mr Cormac Bakewell, defended the decision which, he said, the majority of students would support as a step towards reconciliation.
The president of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), Mr Coleman Byrne, also welcomed the removal of the signs.