Fourteen submissions on plan to name bridge in Athlone after Mary O'Rourke
Westmeath County Council said a recent public consultation on naming Athlone's new greenway bridge after Mary O'Rourke attracted 14 submissions in total.
The proposal to change the name of the Athlone Greenway Bridge to the Mary O’Rourke Bridge/Droichead Mháire Uí Ruairc opened for public consultation in mid-July, with the window for submissions closing on Friday last, August 29.
A council official told the Westmeath Independent that the local authority had decided not to publish the submissions it received on its website.
Instead, a report outlining details of the submissions is due to be compiled and presented for councillors' consideration at the October meeting of the Athlone Moate Municipal District.
Mary O'Rourke, who died last October at the age of 87, was a high-profile national political figure for many years and a former deputy leader of Fianna Fáil. She also head a number of senior Ministerial portfolios and was a former Leader of the Seanad.
The greenway bridge opened in August 2023, and the proposal to name it after Ms O'Rourke received unanimous backing at a meeting of the Athlone Moate Municipal District when it was proposed by Cllr Paul Hogan earlier this year.
Cllr Hogan said there were "many reasons" for naming the bridge over the Shannon in honour of Ms O'Rourke, chief among them the fact that it was "a bridge between east and west," as he alluded to the late politician being born on the west side of Athlone but making her home on the east side of the town.
While the 14 submissions on the bridge naming proposal have not been made publicly available, one of them was shared with the Westmeath Independent by Coosan resident John Rattigan.
In his submission, Mr Rattigan objected to the naming proposal, saying it "could prove to be an insult to her memory and legacy to change an existing name in retrospect".
He felt it would be more appropriate for the former Health Minister's name to be attached to the new community nursing unit in Clonbrusk, which is due to open next year, and he suggested it might be called 'The Mary O'Rourke Memorial Care Centre'.
Mr Rattigan went on to say: "Notwithstanding my comment above with regard to retrospective renaming, I strongly propose renaming the Athlone Greenway bridge to Independence Bridge."
He said the most important historical events to occur in Athlone in modern times were the exit of British troops from the then-Victoria Barracks; the marching of Irish troops across the town bridge for the taking over of the newly-named Custume Barracks; and the Tricolour replacing the British flag at Athlone Castle.
"It is time our local authority and council members who were elected by their local community and family members of their parents and grandparents acknowledged these important and significant historical events and commemorate them by providing a substantial monument to the local Irish Volunteers by re-naming the Greenway Bridge," Mr Rattigan stated.
"I have no doubt that the late Mary O’Rourke would welcome such a move given her own and her historical family links with the two main parties in the formation of the New Ireland."