So it's down to five - the shortlist of possible names for the new Liffey bridge between Marlborough Street and Hawkins Street has been revealed.
And it doesn’t even include the most obvious and politically neutral gesture of deferring to the National Theatre.
Cllr Paddy McCartan (Fine Gael) had championed its cause by proposing the "Abbey Bridge", given the theatre's close proximity to the crossing and the likelihood trhat it would become even closer when the Abbey extends onto Eden Quay.
But Dublin City Council’s Commemorative Naming Committee decided today to exclude the National Theatre’s common name when it performed the “difficult task” of reducing the previous shortlist of 10 names to five.
The conteners are Willie Bermingham, founder of Alone; Frank Duff, founder of the Legion of Mary; Rosie Hackett, a trade unionist who was involved in the 1913 Lockout; Kay Mills, who played camogie for Dublin, and Bram Stoker, creator of Dracula.
“The committee have been delighted with the public’s interest in naming this bridge and wish to thank them for their enthusiastic response and outstanding contributions”, said the committee’s chairman, Cllr Dermot Lacey.
“The names include heroic Dubliners, giants from the world of literature and sport. We have an outstanding shortlist of five, any one of which would be a fitting choice,” he added. The final decision will be made by the full council in the autumn.
Left-wing support is firmly behind Rosie Hackett. Apart from her largely unsung role in 1913, promoters of her cause point out that not one of the 16 bridges over the River Liffey between Heuston Station and the East Link is named after a woman.
The bridge, which is costing an estimated €15 million, will carry the Luas Cross City Line and other public transport linking Marlborough Street on the north side of the Liffey to Hawkins Street on the south side and is now expected to open “early next year”.
