'˜John Hume Street' bidreferred to committee

The proposal to re-christen Hume Street, ‘John Hume Street’ appears doomed to failure, however, after members of the council’s South East Area Committee (SEAC) declared themselves opposed to the move.

The committee agreed last month that renaming Hume Street would not be a sufficient way of honouring the Derryman.

Located in the epicentre of Georgian Dublin and named after the 18th century surgeon, Gustavus Hume, the thoroughfare is one of the city’s most prestigious addresses.

It lies just a stone’s throw away from St. Stephen’s Green, the National Concert Hall, Dáil Éireann, Government Buildings, the National Gallery, the National Museum, O’Donoghue’s pub and the Shelbourne Hotel, among other iconic locations.

In February DCC’s SEAC had debated a request to rename Hume Street “in honour of Mr. John Hume for his outstanding contribution to Irish political life and in particular his unique contribution to the peace process of Northern Ireland”.

It was suggested that renaming the street would give it a new lease of life.

However, the SEAC referred the matter to full council, stating that they believed that “John Hume should be honoured in an appropriate manner by DCC but [believed] that this particular proposal is insufficient”.

At the authority’s full meeting for March councillors agreed to further refer the matter to its protocol committee for consideration. It will now decide on whether or not to initiate the “process of name change of the street currently known as Hume Street to John Hume Street by conducting a plebiscite”.