State put on notice by High Court over Dublin council's alleged inability to rename public places

High Court Reporter

Dublin city councillors have taken a High Court challenge against the State in their bid to remove Belfast-born former Israeli president Chaim Herzog's name from a park in south Dublin.

The councillors also want to rename Diamond Park in Dublin 1 as Terence Wheelock Memorial Diamond Park. Wheelock died in 2005 after being found unresponsive in a garda cell having been arrested on suspicion of car theft.

Herzog was born in Belfast in 1918 and raised in Dublin before becoming Israeli prime minister in 1983. Herzog Park in Rathgar is named in his honour.

His son, Isaac Herzog, is the current president of Israel. Some political activists have called for the name to be removed from the park in protest against Israel's actions in Gaza.

Councillors say their efforts have been blocked because the Government has failed to introduce legislation allowing local authorities to name public places.

Cllr Conor Reddy of People Before Profit is seeking High Court judicial review proceedings and took the case against the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Ireland and the Attorney General.

He is backed by councillors Cieran Perry (Ind), Vincent Jackson (Ind), Ciarán Ó Meachair (SF), Niall Ring (Ind) and Micheál Mac Donncha (SF) as co-applicants in court papers.

The councillors were represented by Derek Shortall, who submitted to Judge Mary Rose Gearty that all of the applicants were democratically elected and that there was a recognition in the Constitution to carry out such local government functions, including naming public places.

The case concerns the Minister’s alleged failure to introduce regulations required under Part 18 of the Local Government Act 2001, which would allow councils to complete the legal process for renaming public places.

Although the relevant section of the Act commenced in 2019, the regulations needed to hold local ballots have still not been introduced, it is claimed.

The councillors seek an order, termed ‘mandamus’, requiring the department to introduce the regulations without delay.

Terence Wheelock was taken into custody in 2005 and placed in a cell in Store Street Garda Station after being arrested on suspicion of involvement with a car theft.

Hours after his arrest, Wheelock was found unresponsive in his cell. He went into a coma and was taken to the Mater Hospital, where he remained in a coma for over three months before his death.

Verdict

In 2007, a jury at a Coroner’s Court returned a verdict of suicide while a 2010 investigation by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) concluded that there was no credible evidence that he had been subjected to mistreatment while in custody.

Family and friends of Wheelock were present in the Four courts today.

Chaim Herzog was a Belfast-born former Israeli President and military officer raised in Dublin. There is not yet a suggested name by the councillors to replace Herzog’s name from the Rathgar park.

At the High Court on Monday Judge Gearty said that while local government functions were “vitally important” in the naming of public places she wanted the State to be put on notice of today’s ex-parte matter - where only one side is represented - and adjourned the application to October, to allow the State an opportunity to oppose the application if they wished to do so.