Herzog Park row: 'Penny has dropped' with Irish leaders over 'insular antisemitism' in their country
A proposal to rename a Dublin park named after a Belfast-born former president of Israel has attracted international criticism – amid claims of growing anti-semitism in the Republic of Ireland.
The bid to strip Chaim Herzog’s name from the facility has been condemned by the Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin and his deputy Simon Harris, as well as US and Israeli politicians.
On Sunday night, the chief executive of Dublin City Council told RTE he was “proposing to withdraw the report from the agenda", on a legislative technicality.
The DUP leader said that the “penny has dropped” with Mr Martin and Mr Harris “that this level of insular anti-semitism and mean-spiritedness speaks volumes about how minority communities are treated in the Republic”.
UUP MLA Jon Burrows said the “shameful” discussion on the issue “sends a chilling message to Jewish people in the Republic of Ireland and also to the wider world that anti-semitism is alive and well” in the country.
Jim Allister said the “vindictive act underscores the growing anti-Israel attitude in the Irish Republic”.
“A statute of IRA terrorist Sean Russell who died onboard a Nazi U-boat while engaged in plotting with the most evil regime in history can stay – but there is no room in modern Dublin for a sign with the name of a Jew who had clear links to the city and rose to be head of state of Israel,” the TUV leader said.
Taoiseach Mr Martin said the proposal “should be withdrawn in its entirety and not proceeded with”, while Tanaiste Simon Harris said it is “offensive” to the principle of “an inclusive Republic”.
The Office of the President of Israel expressed concern on Saturday over the proposed renaming of the park in the south of the Irish capital – and the US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has condemned the proposal.
Posting on social media, President Trump’s man in Tel Aviv said: “What happened to Ireland? Beautiful country and when I visited there filled with hospitable people but this is tragic.”
The Dublin park is named after Chaim Herzog, who was was born in Belfast and raised in Dublin. He was the sixth president of Israel between 1983 and 1993. Today, Dublin city councillors are expected to vote on a motion to rename the park.
His granddaughter has called the move “deeply troubling”, and said Ireland’s Jewish history needs to be protected.
Dr Alexandra Herzog posted on social media that “Dublin City Council’s move to strip my grandfather’s name from Herzog Park is deeply troubling.
“Chaim Herzog was born in Belfast, attended school in Dublin and fought the Nazis as an Irishman. Irish Jewish history is part of Ireland’s history. Protect it”.
Sinn Fein has defended the vote going ahead, claiming that it is about the war in Gaza. Pearse Doherty TD told RTE: “This is a community response, it has cross-party support and it is the community standing up and saying we want to take action.
“Because they are absolutely appalled and sickened to their core in relation to the genocide that has taken place and the killing that still is going on despite the tentative ceasefire.”
However, the European Jewish Congress – a body representing Jewish communities from 42 countries across Europe – said the proposals target “one of the few visible markers of Jewish contribution to Irish society”.
“To single out an Irish-Jewish figure for removal from the public space sends an unmistakably harmful message: that Jewish heritage is conditional, vulnerable and disposable. It risks isolating a small community that has been part of Ireland for generations and undermines the sense of belonging that every minority must be guaranteed”, the group said in a statement.
Mr Martin issued a statement yesterday saying the proposal was “divisive and wrong”.
“The proposal would erase the distinctive and rich contribution to Irish life of the Jewish community over many decades, including actual participation in the Irish War of Independence and the emerging state.
“The proposal is a denial of our history and will without any doubt be seen as anti-semitic. It is overtly divisive and wrong,” he said.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson told the News Letter: “The penny has dropped with Micheal Martin and Simon Harris that this level of insular anti-semitism and mean-spiritedness speaks volumes about how minority communities are treated in the Republic.
“Coming on the back of the hostility shown towards Heather Humphreys and her family’s heritage, this is a further demonstration of the intolerance that abounds. Dublin City Council now has a chance to heed their calls, or continue on a path of belligerent bigotry.”
Mr Burrows said former president Herzog “lived through World War II when the Nazis tried to erase the Jewish race.
“Eamon de Valera signed a book of condolence after Hitler’s death. Now some councillors in Dublin want to erase Herzog’s name from their city. Shameful”.
l Morning View, page 16