A group of Dublin city councillors have initiated a High Court challenge over the Government’s alleged failure to introduce regulations that would enable local authorities to change placenames.People Before Profit’s Conor Reddy, who is among the six challengers, said the issue recently came to the fore for Dublin city councillors who wanted to rename Herzog Park in Rathgar, which was named in 1995 in honour of Belfast-born Chaim Herzog. Israel’s president from 1983 to 1993, Herzog had spent his early childhood in Dublin when his father was chief rabbi of Ireland. His son, Isaac Herzog, is the current president of Israel.Reddy, Sinn Féin’s Ciarán Ó Meachair and Mícheál Mac Donncha, and independents Cieran Perry, Nial Ring and Vincent Jackson are all part of Dublin City Council’s Commemorations and Naming Committee.They allege the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has failed to make regulations needed to change placenames under the Local Government Act of 2001.The politicians claim part 18 of the 2001 Act, as amended in 2019, provides for local councils to alter placenames, but it requires the Minister to set out via regulations the conduct of secret ballots on proposed changes. As this has not been done, no placename in the State can be changed by a local authority, they say. Plans to rename Herzog Park and Diamond Park, in the north inner city, have “stalled due to the Minister’s inaction”, they allege.While there is no formally proposed new name for Herzog Park yet, the councillors say they want to rename Diamond Park in memory of Terence Wheelock, a young man who died in Garda custody in 2005.Dublin City Council has been advised that its elected members cannot exercise their renaming powers under part 18 of the 2001 Act due to the lack of regulations providing for a secret ballot, the councillors say. They have been told the Minister believes part 18 conflicts with part 5 of the Official Languages Act of 2003 and that additional legislation is needed before the regulations can be introduced.Their judicial review case, which was formally lodged at the High Court this week by the councillors’ solicitors, Shortall Law, seeks an order requiring the Minister to introduce the regulations they say are needed.The proposal to rename Herzog Park created significant controversy late last year, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin among a number of public figures who condemned the plan as a “denial of our history” that would “without any doubt be seen as anti-Semitic”.Others who criticised the proposal included Tánaiste Simon Harris, the office of the Israeli president and Irish Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder, who said removing the name Herzog from the park would be a shameful erasure of Irish-Jewish history.Reddy said he takes issue with Herzog’s actions against Palestinians and would “absolutely” be in favour of naming the park after another Jewish-Irish figure, such as artist Estella Solomons who was involved in Cumann na mBan.The councillor said there are places throughout the State where name changes are “really important”. He said there are examples of places being named after members of the clergy who have been accused of child sexual abuse.The Minister has been approached for comment.