From flashpoint to focal point: How backlash against Herzog Park name has strengthened Jewish ties to the Dublin amenity
As the harsh glare of the national and international media shone down on an unassuming park in south Dublin, it thrust a small, tight-knit community in Rathgar, many of whom are Jewish, into the spotlight.
And like any community who felt under threat, they banded together, seeking out a space to call their own. And where better than the very spot that brought the scrutiny upon them – Herzog Park.
It was a proposal from Dublin City Council’s (DCC) Commemorations and Naming Committee, to change its name from Herzog Park, that whipped up the initial outcry.
The change has since been stalled on foot of last-minute legal advice, but not before doing a significant amount of hurt to many locals in the area, who value its connection to Chaim Herzog, a former president of Israel with deep Irish roots.
Maurice Cohen, chair of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, said the ordeal has brought the community closer to the amenity, and each other, than ever before.
“Indicative of that would have been the huge crowd we got on Monday night for the lighting ceremony,” he said, referring to the second day of Hanukkah celebrations held there earlier this week.
It was the first time the event was held in the park, and a sizeable crowd attended, including Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan and Chaim Herzog’s granddaughter, Alexandra Herzog.
“Would we get the same crowd every year? I don’t know,” he said, acknowledging that the park renaming issue and antisemitic Bondi Beach shooting may have swollen the numbers.
“But it certainly has given me ideas where we would do it every year.
“We would invite the neighbours in whether they were Jewish or not.
“It’s a lovely, very small ceremony and I think it has strengthened the community’s engagement with the park.
“We did moot it perhaps that we should have it at the park several years ago, but we were always worried about the rain.
“But now we may make sure that we do a ceremony there. Hopefully [Monday] was the first of the annual lighting ceremony in Herzog Park.”
The Justice Minister’s presence also got a “magnificent” reaction from those in attendance, Mr Cohen added.
“Everybody was delighted to chat to him afterwards, and I think it really showed the support that I think the community has been lacking in public from the Government.”
On the politics of it all, Mr Cohen has some faith that with the renewed scrutiny of the proposal, the council would no longer pass the name change, despite 13 of the committee’s 14 members voting in favour of the change initially.
I think Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Greens and Labour may band together now and may defeat it
“I think Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Greens and Labour may band together now and may defeat it,” he said.
The change in heart follows a flurry of criticism both at home and abroad, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin urging DCC to “withdraw it in its entirety”.
“The proposal is a denial of our history and will without any doubt be seen as antisemitic,” he said.
“It is overtly divisive and wrong. Our Irish Jewish communities’ contribution to our country’s evolution in its many forms should always be cherished and generously acknowledged.”
Israeli president Isaac Herzog, who is Chaim Herzog’s son, said removing the name would be “shameful and disgraceful”.
Such a move, he said, would harm “the unique expression of the historical connection between the Irish and Jewish peoples”.
Back on the committee that started the furore, its chair, councillor Donna Cooney, and member Dermot Lacey, both agree the issue is far from a consensus any longer.
“There’s varying views now within the committee in relation to the issue,” Ms Cooney said, hinting that the name change might not sail through as easily the second time around.
Mr Lacey, the only councillor on the committee who originally voted against the renaming of the park, said he stands by his original view, and had been “really surprised” at the level of support he has received.
“Like there is a genuine and real hostility to what the Israeli government are doing, but I guess that the vast majority of people in Dublin, from the correspondence I’ve got, are making a distinction between the Israeli government and the Dublin Jewish community,” he said.
That distinction is now filtering through to the political class, he said.
“People in the middle ground are beginning to realise the sensitivities and the impact of doing it, and we may not get the same vote when it comes back again. I think this is at a sensitive time where the right thing for Ireland and the right thing for Dublin, in my honest opinion, is that we don’t rename this.”
The committee is currently seeking independent legal advice on the renaming process, which members hope will be provided in time for its next meeting on February 6.