A bridge near Croke Park in Dublin will be renamed Bloody Sunday Bridge in honour of the 1920 massacre at the GAA stadium despite demands from certain council members for a halt in the plan.
For the past three years, there has been discussion and public input regarding renaming the Clonliffe Bridge/Russell Street Bridge to reflect the November 21, 1920 events that occurred in Dublin.
The Auxiliaries and “Black and Tans” killed a total of 14 people during a match at Croke Park, just hours after IRA operatives killed or critically injured 15 individuals during a series of killings targeting British military intelligence.
Several council members, notably Social Democrat councillor Mary Callaghan, whose grandfather was present in Croke Park during the massacres, urged a vote on the new name should be postponed and reviewed at Dublin City Council’s monthly meeting on Monday evening.
She has proposed changing the name to Remembrance Bridge or 14, contending that Bloody Sunday has several implications and may be seen as divisive.
Joe Costello and Dermot Lacey, both Labour council members, also requested a halt to the naming procedure.
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.
Through the council’s online consultation hub, the public was asked to submit feedback on the idea between July and September of last year. 969 comments in all were submitted online; 450 (46.44%) of them supported the idea, while 513 (52.94%) did not.
On December 1 of last year, the council’s commemorations and naming committee met again to discuss the request to name the bridge.
Members in attendance cast votes, as required by policy, to approve the proposal to rename the bridge, with a majority of members voting in favour.