CALLS TO CHANGE “Prince Andrew” place names and street signs across Northern Ireland have intensified after the soon-to-be-former prince was stripped of his titles.

Councillors are set to debate a proposal in November to change the name of Prince Andrew Way in the coastal Co Antrim town of Carrickfergus.

Mid and East Antrim councillor Aaron Skinner said he would like to see the road named after the late Queen Elizabeth instead.

The Alliance party representative, whose party has submitted the request to council, said residents in the area had been expressing concerns over the street name for some time due to Andrew’s association with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – Andrew has always denied wrongdoing.

Skinner said he has been “inundated” with calls about the issue since news broke of the King Charles’s decision to strip his brother of his titles.

While Skinner said it is “important to protect the royal heritage of Carrickfergus”, he added that ”we really don’t feel, especially in light of the actions by the palace, that it’s appropriate to have Prince Andrew (as a name)”.

He noted that the “title doesn’t exist any more” and that he is looking at “options to rename it in such a way as to maintain that royal heritage”, such as naming places after the late Queen Elizabeth.

Skinner said he hoped there would be unanimous political backing within the council, for a change.

“We’ve had correspondence around this for years now (from residents), but over the last number of weeks it’s really ramped up as the palace have begun taking actions. And certainly the last 24 hours we’ve been inundated.”

There are several other locations in Northern Ireland that carry the name Prince Andrew, including: Prince Andrew Gardens and adjoining Prince Andrew Park in south Belfast; and Prince Andrew Crescent in Moygashel, Co Tyrone, which is part of the Mid Ulster District Council area.

US lawyer Gloria Allred, who represented several of Epstein’s victims, backed moves to change the names.

“Especially Prince Andrew Way,” she told BBC Radio Ulster. “Because we don’t like his way of doing things and the people he associated with.”

A spokesperson for Mid and East Antrim Borough Council said that “any potential changes to street names within the borough would need to be brought before the council for consideration”.

Meanwhile, a Belfast City Council spokesperson remarked that “any application for the renaming of a street needs to be accompanied by a petition of at least one third of the residents of the street, showing an interest/support in changing the street name”.

“This petition must indicate what name is being proposed with a second choice of street name included on the petition,” added the spokesperson.

The petition will then be presented to committee and council to seek approval to progress the application.

If approval is granted to progress the application, the Council would then conduct its own survey to among residents and landlords in the street aged 18 and over.

Following this survey, the application progresses to committee for recommendation only if the council survey indicates at least two thirds of the residents are in agreement with the proposed name change.

Elsewhere, a statement from Mid Ulster District Council said that the council is granted discretion to approve street names and that this is a ”matter for council elected members”.

“Any proposed change of street name would be brought through the council for its consideration,” the Council added.