The new Fermanagh and Omagh District Council boundary signs “are literally impossible to read.”
Councillors have been inundated with complaints about the legibility of the text, with one constituent saying the signs “look like they were done in a printing shop on plywood.”
At Tuesday night’s Council meeting in Enniskillen Townhall some Councillors voiced concerns about the 30 new signs, which cost in the region of £18,000 to install.
Now, Councillors are considering spending up to £6,000 more on upgrading the boundary signage. They will also have to change the facility signage at premises such as the Ardhowen Theatre.
On Tuesday night, Councillors were told that replacing the vinyl on the signs and changing the prominence of all the text to bold would cost £40 per sign; a total of £2,000. Another option is to have the Council logo elevated in a half moon at the top of the signage, which would cost £200 per sign; a total of £6,000.
“We can’t just go throwing money about over signage,” DUP Councillor Keith Elliott told the meeting. “We are back to square one. These signs were agreed by Council. Now, after the erection of 30 signs, we just don’t like them anymore?”
Sinn Féin Councillor Thomas O’Reilly stated: “One of the things that distinguishes the boundary of this Council is these very signs. I’ve had quite a few people on the subject who are saying that, as a Council, we have taken down signs that were better than what is now up.
“If we are looking for something special, something that delineates our Council and is imaginative, these signs don’t do that. 
“People have said that they look like they were done in a printing shop on plywood. Quite a few people have said the county boundary signs have come down and there’s nothing there. We do need to deal with this situation. It’s one thing looking at something on paper as opposed to when you see it up on the side of the road. It’s literally impossible to read these signs.”
“This is ratepayer money and we need to be mindful of that,” said UUP Councillor Robert Irvine.
Sinn Féin Councillor Marty McColgan said that the Irish text cannot be seen.
During the discussion, it emerged that since the creation of the new super council in April 2015, County Fermanagh signs and County Tyrone signs that depicted the old Council logos have been taken down. SDLP Councillor Rosemary Shields proposed that the Council examines the replacement of these county boundary signs.
The issue will be discussed at the next Policy and Resources Committee meeting.
Meanwhile, the Council has set aside £200,000 for the roll out of road and townland signs throughout the Fermanagh area over the next two years. The new signs will use the approved road names and associated townlands that are contained in the updated data for the District Council area following the implementation of the Fermanagh Rural Addressing Projec