A bridge near Croke Park in Dublin is to be renamed Bloody Sunday Bridge in remembrance of the 1920 killings at the GAA stadium despite calls from some councillors for a pause in the plan.
For the past three years, debate and public consultation has been ongoing over changing the name from the Clonliffe Bridge/Russell Street Bridge to the new name associated with events in Dublin on November 21, 1920.
A total of 14 people were killed by the Auxiliaries and “Black and Tans” at a match at Croke Park just hours after IRA operatives carried out a series of assassinations against British military intelligence, killing or fatally wounding 15 men.
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At the monthly meeting of Dublin City Council on Monday evening, several councillors including Social Democrat councillor Mary Callaghan whose grandfather was present in Croke Park during the shootings said a vote on the new name should be deferred and reconsidered.
She has suggested it should be called Remembrance Bridge or 14 instead, arguing that Bloody Sunday has various connotations and could be seen as divisive.
Labour councillors Joe Costello and Dermot Lacey also called for a pause in the naming process.
The councillors heard that the central area committee, at its meeting of November 10, 2020, considered and adopted the motion that the Royal Canal Bridge at Russell Street, currently named Clonliffe Bridge/Russell Street Bridge, be officially renamed as Bloody Sunday Bridge along with its Irish name.
Members of the public were invited to comment on the proposal, via the council’s online Consultation Hub, between July and September last year. A total of 969 comments were received via the online system with 450 (46.44 per cent) of the comments in favour of the proposal, and 513 (52.94 per cent) of the comments not in favour of the proposal.
The proposal to name the bridge was considered again at a meeting of the council’s commemorations and naming committee on December 1 last year.
As required under policy, a vote was taken by members present to confirm the proposal to name the bridge, with a majority of members voting in favour.
The motion was approved by a strategic policy committee and signed off by the council at its meeting on Monday.
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