Updated 23:18
DUBLIN CITY’S NEWEST bridge is to be named Rosie Hackett Bridge.
The final decision on the name of the bridge connecting Marlborough Street and Hawkins Street was made by councillors at a meeting of Dublin City Council tonight.
A shortlist of five names had been presented after being whittled down several times: Willie Bermingham, a firefighter who founded ALONE, a charity which looks after older people in need; Frank Duff, who founded the Legion of Mary; Kay Mills, who won 15 All-Ireland medals for the Dublin camogie team; Dracula author Bram Stoker; and Rosie Hackett, a trade unionist and member of the Irish Citizen Army who took part in the 1916 Rising.
Each councillor was given a ballot paper and asked to rank the names from 1 to 5. Each number one ranking received 5 points, number two ranking received 4 points, all the way down to number 5-ranked names which received 1 point.
The total number of points received were:
Rosie Hackett: 192 points
Kay Mills: 176 points
Willie Birmingham: 167 points
Bram Stoker; 92 points
Frank Duff: 80 points
Dublin City Council received 85 official nominations in total, which was then whittled down several times to the final shortlist.
While there were campaigns for a number of names on the shortlist, the Rosie Hackett campaign was by far the most visible, with proponents arguing that her role – like that of many women involved in activism in the early 20th century – had been largely erased from history.
It will become the first bridge over the river Liffey to be named after a woman.
The new bridge, which is located between O’Connell Bridge and Butt Bridge, will carry buses and the Luas cross-city when it opens, and will also have cycle lanes and footpaths.
Originally published 20.52
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