A DECISION has been taken to rename Archbishop Ryan Park in Dublin as Merrion Square Park despite overwhelming public support for the park to be named after Oscar Wilde.
Councillors will next week be asked to ratify Dublin City Council’s plan to rename the park at the centre of Merrion Square after a request for public submissions found 98 per cent were in favour of the archbishop’s name being removed.
The Murphy report on how the abuse of children by priests was dealt with by the Dublin archdiocese was very critical of the late Archbishop Ryan, finding that he “failed to properly investigate complaints”.
Labour councillors last December initiated the renaming process “as a gesture to all those who suffered as a result of clerical abuse”.
Almost 40 per cent of respondents wanted the park named after Oscar Wilde, whose statue is in the park.
Fewer than 8 per cent wanted it to be named Merrion Park, and just 2 per cent wanted it to remain Archbishop Ryan Park.
