Overview
- Dublin City Council chief executive Richard Shakespeare withdrew the renaming report, citing failure to follow statutory rules requiring a secret ballot, and referred the matter back to the naming committee.
- The proposal originated with Sinn Féin councillor Kourtney Kenny to remove the Herzog name, with alternatives floated such as Hind Rajab Park or Free Palestine Park, following pro‑Palestinian activist campaigns at the site.
- Taoiseach Micheál Martin called the plan divisive and urged its withdrawal, while Foreign Minister Helen McEntee and Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris opposed the change as unrelated to criticism of Israel’s Gaza policy.
- Israel’s presidency voiced concern and called a removal of the name disgraceful, and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar highlighted already strained ties, noting Israel’s closure of its Dublin embassy last year.
- Ireland’s Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder and the Jewish Representative Council said dropping the name would erase Jewish history near local schools and synagogues, while some councillors defended the motion as solidarity with Palestinians rather than antisemitism.