Terence Wheelock park renaming will not take place this year
Plans to honour the legacy of Terence Wheelock through the renaming of Diamond Park will not move forward in 2025.
The proposal to rename Diamond Park in the North Inner City to The Terence Wheelock Memorial Diamond was due to be voted on by Dublin city councillors at the December monthly meeting. However, these plans were deferred due to a legal issue regarding improper renaming legislation which saw both Diamond Park and Herzog Park renaming plans redirected to yesterday’s Commemorations and Naming Committee meeting.
Chairperson of the committee Councillor Donna Cooney stated that the legal issues have yet to be resolved and all renaming plans have now been halted until independent legal advice is received . The Wheelock family previously received an apology from Lord Mayor Ray McAdam and the council’s Chief Executive Richard Shakespeare for the "systematic failure” that saw the park renaming halted.
The renaming of Diamond Park served as the culmination of a 20 year campaign by the Wheelock family following the death of Terence on September 16 2005. Terence had fallen into a coma after being detained at Store Street Garda Station on June 2 2005.
The circumstances surrounding his detainment and death raised questions around the treatment of detainees in Ireland and the protocols followed by gardai. With the renaming set to mark the 20th anniversary of his death, Terence’s brother spoke about being “extremely disappointed" about the delay .
Cllr Cooney said the council is hopeful they “can do something” to honour Terence for the anniversary but they will “need to see what’s possible” given the end of the year so close. She said they have discussed placing a commemorative plague at Diamond Park while the legal issues around renaming are being resolved.
“It might be possible to do something with the agreement of the family within the park so that it’s in the year of the anniversary,” Cllr Cooney said. She said a commemorative plague, bench, or tree planting are potential options.
However, Cllr Cooney stressed the importance of gaining “legal clarity” around all renaming and commemorative issues as it’s important not to cause further upset to the Wheelock family whose long-standing campaign was unfortunately drawn into the wider controversy surrounding the renaming of Herzog Park.
The Commemorations and Naming Committee are due to meet again on February 6, 2026.
This content is funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme