Using townland names is good way promote shared culture

Strangford Alliance Candidate for the Westminster election, Deborah Girvan, has appealed to government departments to promote local townland names to maintain and protect our shared culture. She said that using townland names would not cost taxpayers any money and would be able to foster shared community identities in Northern Ireland.

Deborah Girvan said: “Using townland names would not cost Stormont Departments any money and it would help promote languages and shared culture in Northern Ireland.

“We need to examine cost effective ways of promoting culture and shared local identities and this would seem like the perfect way to do so. My constituency colleague, Strangford Alliance MLA Kieran McCarthy, has been campaigning for years to get government to use townland names in correspondence and at events.

“There are some very intriguing townland names in the local area, like Acre McCricket in Strangford, Stinking Rock in Killinchy and Fishquarter in Kircubbin.

“We should be very proud of our shared history and heritage. Townlands celebrate our language and the traditions and crafts in local areas. Their use comes at no cost to the overburdened taxpayer and I believe they should be used and promoted more readily by our government here.”

“I would strongly encourage people to check the public records office website (www.proni.gov.uk) to find out about their townland and use it in correspondence.”

ENDS