‘Denaming’ of Herzog Park was not possible as placenames rules had not been issued

New national legislation is likely to be required to resolve the placenames impasse at the centre of a controversy over the “denaming” of Herzog Park in Rathgar, Dublin, according to the Department of Housing.An attempt to remove the name of the former Israeli president Chaim Herzog from the south Dublin park last December sparked accusations of anti-Semitism against Dublin City Council.However, it emerged the council could not have changed the name of the park because the Government had never issued the regulations on placenames required to give effect to legislation dating from 2001 and amended in 2011.A clash between local government and Irish language Acts, which remains unresolved between two Government departments, has been blamed for the failure to devise regulations that could be used by local authorities to change the names of parks and other public places.READ MOREAn unpublished report, commissioned by the council and presented to councillors last week, found the park episode had caused “deep division in the local community and reputational damage to the council”.However, the document, produced by retired council executive manager Vincent Norton, said councillors and the council executive had been “failed” by “governance frameworks” which meant it could not legally implement name-change proposals. He identified the “main reason for failure to advance these proposals as being due to the required regulations not yet having been made”.“A formal request should now be made to the department/Minister to immediately make the necessary regulations to enable naming, and renaming proposals to be implemented as the Act envisaged,” it concluded. The Department of Housing said the legislation provided for regulations to be issued to local authorities on holding a plebiscite, a local ballot, on placename changes. “However, before regulations could be made, issues were identified” in relation to the interaction between local government legislation and “official languages legislation”, it said.“Work is continuing with the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht on the resolution of the placenames issue,” the Department of Housing said.However, it was described as a “complex matter” and it was “expected that a resolution to the legislative complexities that exist between the local government Acts and Official Languages Act may require primary legislation to resolve”.Neither Government department responded to queries in relation to what specific issues or complexities had arisen in relation to the language legislation, or whether these matters had arisen before or after councillors were asked to vote on the Herzog Park proposal last December.The south Dublin park was named in 1995 in honour of Belfast-born Chaim Herzog, Israel’s president from 1983 to 1993, who spent his early childhood in Dublin when his father was chief rabbi of Ireland. His son, Yitzhak Herzog, is the current president of Israel.The removal of the Herzog name had been recommended by the council’s cross-party commemorations committee. However, hours after it was reported that the proposal was to be voted on by the full council, it became the focus of international attention and accusations of anti-Semitism.Taoiseach Micheál Martin described the proposal as “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.Last June, a group of councillors initiated judicial review proceedings against the State seeking an order requiring the department to introduce the regulations. The legal challenge is continuing. The Norton report was completed in May but was only issued to members of the commemorations committee three days before their meeting last week. The committee deferred debate on its contents.