Legal obstacles hold up debate on renaming Cork's €7m Bishop Lucey Park

Legal barriers are preventing a public consultation opening on the renaming of the recently reopened €7m Bishop Lucey Park, despite a motion passed by council agreeing to look into changing the name, Cork city councillors have said.

In July, Cork City Council agreed a Section 140 motion, put forward by a cross-party group of councillors - Ted Tynan, Oliver Moran and Niamh O'Connor - requiring the chief executive to undertake a process to explore the renaming of the park.

Last week, officials responded saying that subsequent to this an internal group had been convened to establish the next steps and has established that a legislative process would need to be followed.

A council spokesperson explained: “A council may, by resolution passed by not less than half of the members, adopt a proposal to substitute a new placename for the then-existing placename in respect of that place.

“Where it adopts that motion it must go through a consultation process with relevant persons and bodies. After considering any submissions received through that consultation process, the council must then hold a ballot in accordance with regulation.

“Whilst it appears the legislation relating to placenames is in place, the regulation in relation to the holding of a ballot is not in place and therefore it is not possible currently to progress the renaming.” 

The chief executive of Cork City Council is now writing to the government to seek an update on the status of the regulations.

Green Party councillor, Oliver Moran, said: “We're in an absurd place where a majority of councillors have agreed to open a consultation on the name of the park, but that consultation is being held up over how to hold a vote of residents of the park.

“We're not even that far down along the process and, even if we were: it's a park, there are no residents to ballot on a name change. The renaming of the park is a perennial question. 

"I don't know if it is something there will be an eventual majority to do, but unless we can even open the question, hear suggestions, and have the debate, we'll never get to the end of it.” 

Social Democrats councillor, Niamh O'Connor, said that their motion was for this to happen as part of the redevelopment of the park. 

“The park has now reopened, and a plaque has been erected bearing a name that a majority of city councillors have voted to review at the very least.

“We first need to decide what name the people of the city want to give the park, whether that be Bishop Lucey Park, the People's Park, or another option.” 

Workers' Party councillor, Ted Tynan, scall for the power to rename a place be fully devolved to local authorities, saying: “That would eliminate the necessity for the minister to make any such regulations in respect of the holding of a ballot.

“Instead, a set of local regulations made by the local authority for the holding of a plebiscite should be put in place.”