Herzog Park renaming halted until 'independent legal opinion' received
A controversial proposal to rename Herzog Park in Rathgar has been postponed until appropriate legal advice has been received.
Plans to rename the park, which was named after the Belfast-born man former President of Israel Chaim Herzog in 1995, were previously brought before Dublin City Council representatives early in December. However, the proposal was deemed "not legally sound" by Lord Mayor Councillor Ray McAdam because the necessary place-naming legislation was not in force and the issue was redirected to yesterday's Commemorations and Naming Committee meeting.
The committee’s chairperson, Cllr Donna Cooney, spoke to Dublin Live about the necessity of not moving forward with any renaming plans until they “have a clear path forward.” “It’s thrown up a lot of questions around the legislation around it and what we're able to do in terms of and how we can proceed with any naming,” she said.
She explained that the committee has agreed to seek an independent legal opinion for clarity and to provide a framework on how renaming issues should be addressed in the future. This means all park renamings are currently halted.
Cllr Cooney revealed that there are “substantive differences of opinion” on the renaming of Herzog Park which weren’t apparent when the proposal was first proposed. The committee is due to meet again on February 6; however, Cllr Cooney said she believes it's important that the topic of renaming Herzog Park is brought before the full council for discussion before changes are enacted.
The proposal drew international attention with Taoiseach Micheal Martin even intervening to encourage council members to withdraw the proposal. While some councillors argued the current name was inappropriate, Mr Martin said changing the name would “erase the distinctive and rich contribution to Irish life of the Jewish communities over many decades” and could be seen as antisemitic.
Various representatives suggested renaming the park in honour of other members of the Irish Jewish community, but currently there is no official alternative name for Herzog Park. With “a lot of interpretations” around the current legislation, Cllr Cooney said no decision will be made until they have a “totally independent legal opinion.”
Meanwhile, members of the Irish Jewish community gathered in the park last night for an event marking the second day of Hanukkah. While organised prior to the shootings in Bondi , Chief Rabbi of Ireland Yoni Wieder told RTE the community were encouraged to make an extra effort to attend and be seen.
“The terrorist that carried out this attack yesterday they want Jews in Sydney and around the world to live in fear, and our response is absolutely clear - we are here, we are going to continue to thrive," he said. The Hanukkah celebration was attended by the granddaughter of Chaim Herzog, as well as Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan.
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