Herzog Park naming debacle caused ‘deep’ community division – council report

The potential for international criticism and reputational damage arising from the “denaming” of Herzog Park in Rathgar should have been identified before the proposal was put to Dublin City councillors last December, a council-commissioned report has found. However, the report “failed” by “governance frameworks”, resulting in a name change proposal the council could not legally implement. The south Dublin park was named in 1995 to honour Belfast-born Chaim Herzog, Israel’s president from 1983 to 1993, who spent his early childhood in Dublin. A proposal to remove the Herzog name was to be voted on , but was dropped amid international attention and accusations of anti-Semitism. Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the “proposal is a denial of our history and will without any doubt be seen as anti-Semitic”. Tánaiste Simon Harris, the office of the Israeli president and Irish Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder also criticised the proposal. Council chief executive Richard Shakespeare was contacted , querying whether the proposal was “legally sound”. It emerged that regulations required under 2011 legislation for placename changes had yet to be provided . It does not exonerate councillors from the scurrilous accusation of anti-Semitism, and it does not acknowledge the serious hurt of the Jewish community.” Last June, a group of councillors initiated judicial review proceedings against the State seeking an order requiring the department to introduce the regulations. People Before Profit councillor Conor Reddy said the Government was interfering with the council’s discharging of its democratic function. In a statement, the department said issues had arisen in relation to the “Official Languages legislation” in relation to placenames which were in the process of resolution.