Member's statement: Herzog Park, Dublin
Member's statement by Mr Brian Kingston on .
- MLA
- Mr Brian Kingston
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 1 December 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Herzog Park, Dublin
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5268606
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Dublin City Council was set to discuss this evening a proposal to rename Herzog Park in Rathgar in the latest demonstration of anti-Israel and antisemitic politics in the Irish Republic. The proposal was approved by a council committee last July, with only one councillor voting against, and it had been brought forward by a Sinn Féin councillor. Thankfully, the proposal has been removed from the order paper by the council's chief executive, due to legislation that is in progress. However, it is deeply concerning that the proposal could return. If approved, it would be an appalling example of a lack of tolerance and an attempt to expunge from history the contribution of the Jewish community. The park was renamed Herzog Park in 1995 in honour of Major General Chaim Herzog, a former president of Israel, who was born in Belfast in 1918. He grew up in Dublin, where his father, Yitzhak Herzog, served as the first Chief Rabbi of the Irish Free State from 1921 until 1936. Chaim Herzog served with distinction in the British Army during the Second World War, fighting against Nazism. He went on to serve as president of Israel from 1983 until 1993. Any country or city should take pride in people who have gone on to achieve great things on the international stage. Herzog Park is around only one acre in size and is located next to Stratford College, a multi-denominational school, which was established predominantly by people of the Jewish faith. Sinn Féin's intolerant proposal has rightly been met with condemnation from the prime minister of Ireland, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, and internationally from US Senator, Lindsey Graham, and the office of the current Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, who is the son of Chaim Herzog. Whatever way some may wish to present it, it is an attempt to remove a reference to a prominent Jewish figure and the son of a former Chief Rabbi of Ireland. It is symptomatic of the insular antisemitism and mean-spiritedness that is on display in the Republic of Ireland and of how certain minorities are treated in that state. It comes on the back of the hostility displayed towards Heather Humphreys because of her family background. We have seen such intolerance on display in Belfast through the removal of the blue plaque commemorating the birthplace of Chaim Herzog on Cliftonpark Avenue. It will not be lost on people that Dublin may be set to erase the family name of a Chief Rabbi, yet it retains a statue of Nazi collaborator, Seán Russell, who died on board a German U-boat on his way home in 1940. He was buried at sea with full German naval honours and wrapped in a swastika flag.
451 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice)
Jev’s structured answers met every documented threshold for a qualifying culture-war activity.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.80 (qualifying needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not qualifying).
- Criteria met: Identity framing (0.96); Cultural grievance politics (0.98); Controversy escalation (0.88).
- The text adopts the identity-based framing in its own voice (0.70).
- Subject area: Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice).
- All qualifying thresholds were met.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.96 | Yes |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.43 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.98 | Yes |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.46 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.88 | Yes |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.16 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.80 | Above qualifying threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.01 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.29 |
| Adopts it (chosen) | 0.70 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice) | 1.00 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:02 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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