‘It is the official name that goes on the signs’ says council

A ROAD naming debacle, which saw new signage erected with a different street name than what it is commonly known, has received a comprehensive response from South Dublin County Council.

Calls were recently made to “put Main Street and Main Road back on the map” by Tallaght Community Council after the local authority erected signage labelling them as Old Blessington Road.

On the Government’s ordinance survey map online, the streets are listed as Main Street and Main Road and on other map services, the street is listed same.

According to the State’s available maps online, Old Blessington Road runs adjacent to St Maelruain’s Church and becomes Main Street at the bend by The Dragon Inn.

It is understood that Main Street runs down past the entrance to the Priory and Molloy’s Pub before turning into Main Road at the junction where Bank of Ireland is situated.

However, two-weeks-ago the council erected signage outside The Dragon Inn and across from Bank of Ireland calling the roads Old Blessington Road and within days, such was the confusion, they were removed again.

At the time, the council told The Echo that on its internal systems, the roads are listed as Old Blessington Road.

Now, in response to a representation by Cllr Charlie O’Connor (Fianna Fáil), the council gave an overview of how it came to its conclusions.

“Road names play an important role in informing the history of an area. For this reason they should not be changed without careful consideration,” the council said.

“This road was originally listed in the 1952 schedule of roads as Blessington Road and after the construction of the Tallaght By-Pass between the M50 and the Blessington Road at West Tallaght the original line passing through Tallaght village became known as the Old Blessington Road.

“In this way a link is maintained with its original use as a significant connector radial route to and from the city of Dublin in times gone by.

“Although the carriageway has been upgraded, the old cottages and walls at the Priory and at St Maelruains Church and cemetery give an indication of what travelling that road might have been like at that time.”

A review of the road schedule was carried out in 2014 to implement a new road numbering system.

The outcome of the review was uploaded as the Road Schedule to the Pavement Management System, which is operated national by the Road Management Office.

Where an error is found, changes can be made. However, the council has doubled down on its original statement, saying that “there is no error” in this case as its “consistent with historical records”.

A record of local names for roads are also kept on file as they made hold historical significance.

“However, for the purposes of organising and coordinating the maintenance of all the roads in the County there can only be one official name for a road,” the council said.

“Putting up signs which conflict with the official name would only lead to confusion and for that reason we try to be consistent with the names listed in the official road schedule.

“It is common place for a road to be known locally as something else other than its official name and there is nothing wrong with that, but it is the official name that goes on the signs.”

There is an official process for changing the official name of a place or a road, which requires a direct vote of an electorate known as a plebiscite.

If a plebiscite was to be conducted and a name agreed upon, then the local authority’s traffic section can erect new street signage reflecting such.