Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will go off on something different. We are talking about heritage. I live in Cork and perhaps the witnesses can comment on a situation with one of the main streets on the north side of Cork city centre, namely MacCurtain Street. It was named after Tomás Mac Curtain, who was a former Lord Mayor of Cork and was murdered in his home in March 1920 by the Black and Tans and British soldiers. Cork renamed the street after him. Then, a number of years ago, a group of businesspeople carried out a survey to see how they could get people to come to this street. The English company they employed suggested to rename and re-market the area as the Victorian quarter.

They did that but they did not get it passed by Cork City Council. It has not been passed by the people of Cork. Not all of the traders in the area agree with it. It is an unbelievable insult to the memory of Tomás Mac Curtain and his family.

It is on Google Maps and Tripadvisor and in Cork City Council and in the media. It is everywhere. Can just a couple of people come together and rename part of a city? This is part of the second city in this State. These people have done this with no oversight.

I have contacted Google but I cannot get an answer. I have contacted other people. This should not be up anywhere. It was never passed and it was never agreed.

I have raised this in Cork City Council and I have not been the only one to do so. From a heritage point of view, what can be done to stop things like that from happening? There might be some buildings in the Victorian quarter but the other thing is that she was the Famine queen. We cannot do anything about existing streets that might carry English names on them but we certainly should not be naming any more streets or areas after people like the Famine queen.