‘We Should be Reclaiming the City’ – Calls to ‘Decolonise’ Dublin to Remove Street Names with British Empire Origins - 03/12/2025

Walk around any part of Dublin city and remnants of the British empire remain in the names of the streets.Wellington Quay, Marlborough Street, North King Street, Queen Street, Henry Street, Grafton Street. All are named after members of royalty, aristocracy or landowners in the city when the locations were developed.There are a few disputes over the origins of the names of streets. North Great George’s Street is possibly named after King George III, but more likely took its name from the nearby St George’s Church. Now some Dublin city councillors want to go back, have a long hard look at the origins of the names and remove the remnants of 800 years of British occupation.The Herzog Park controversy, where councillors want to remove the name of former Israeli president Chaim Herzog from a green in Rathgar, has opened a debate about the city’s identity.The street names are back on the table now as the interpretation of history changes. Sinn Féin’s leader on Dublin City Council Daithí Doolan said there is an appetite in his party to look at these street names, and Councillor Doolan joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.