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

I support the Bill also. I wish to ask the Minister of State about the heritage side of things. Recently, Cork City Council unanimously passed a motion put forward by my Sinn Féin colleagues, Councillor Kenneth Collins and Councillor Henry Cremin, to rename Anglesea Street in Cork city MacSwiney Street after Terence MacSwiney, the former Lord Mayor, who died and his family, for their activism and work and in recognition of the whole MacSwiney family. That type of heritage and renaming is something we need to promote more.

I highlight another issue in Cork city because some ad hoc groups are trying to change our heritage and our history. There is an area in Cork city that some people are calling the Victorian quarter. The Victorian quarter does not exist; it is not an official place. An ad hoc group of people decided to come up with this marketing tool. It is wrong because Mac Curtain Street was named after Tomás Mac Curtain who was murdered in his home in Blackpool by Black and Tans and Royal Irish Constabulary, RIC, officers who drove to his house on what was then called King Street and killed him. It was renamed Mac Curtain Street in honour of Tomás. A group of people want to call it the Victorian quarter. They are trying to change our history and heritage. When I was a councillor on Cork City Council, I put forward a motion that this should not be allowed and I ask the Minister of State that no ad hoc group should be allowed to make up names because they think it is a marketing tool. We must respect our heritage and history. I know the Minister of State cares about this subject and I hope he will take it on board.

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