Irish Examiner view: One good way to honour women's role in the War of Independence

The proposal to name part of the new Macroom bypass in honour of Cumann na mBan is a step in the right direction

The proposal to honour Cumann na mBan won cross-party support at a recent meeting of Cork County Council. File picture

The new bypass at Macroom, Co Cork, is a visible answer to the prayers of generations of travellers to and from Co Kerry, sidestepping as it does the traffic bottleneck in the town that devastated countless holiday and match schedules over the years.

Thoughts are now turning to naming the stretch of road, and in this decade of centenaries it is encouraging to see that a proposal to recognise the contribution of Cumann na mBan in the War of Independence is gaining traction.

Co Cork councillors discussing the matter recently pointed to the multitude of memorials and commemorations devoted to the men of the IRA and the lack of similar acknowledgement for the women of Cumann na mBan; certainly naming the roundabout on the Coolcower (eastern) side of the bypass after the women’s organisation would help to address that imbalance.

A map of Cumann na mBan branch membership at the time of the 1921 Truce, based on Military Service Pension Collection submissions that detail 17,119 members attached to 750 branches. Picture courtesy UCC

However, transport body Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has responsibility for the bypass and will need to be consulted if the public is invited to propose names for the roundabout.

It would be surprisingly tone-deaf of TII not to allow the public to have some input here for two reasons.

The first is that such input gives a sense of ownership to the public and restores some faith in public institutions, many of which remain disappointingly faceless and remote.

Involving people in the naming process (specifically those who are likely to use the facility) helps to accelerate the acceptance of a new development, though in this case the welcome for the Macroom bypass appears universal.

The second is a point made recently by a councillor when discussing the options for naming the roundabout: That no matter what the public decide, it will always be known locally as the Coolcower roundabout anyway.