The city of Montreal announced the new name for the REM station situated in Griffintown and the Montreal Irish community is disappointed.
Despite calls to name the forthcoming REM light rail station after its historic Irish community, Montreal's new light-rail system revealed the station will instead be named after former Quebec premier Bernard Landry.
Plante had originally announced last fall that the REM station would recognize Landry's important contributions to the development of the downtown area.
"As the link between two districts that have seen phenomenal development in the last few years, the Griffintown – Bernard-Landry station will provide essential structured transportation for the sector," Mayor Valére Plante said.
"This station is also a tribute to the tremendous contribution made by Bernard Landry to our city's development, as it is located adjacent to the Cité du Multimédia, which has become a symbol of our former Premier's bold economic vision, the impact of which lives on today," she continued.
Plante acknowledged that not everyone in the Irish community would be pleased with the announcement and that they were not.
"It’s totally unacceptable to us. It demonstrates a lack of history of Montreal and a certain level of arrogance on behalf of the mayor of Montreal,” said Fergus Keyes of the Montreal Irish Memorial Park Foundation.
Despite the current Covid-19 health crisis, work on the Réseau express métropolitain is quickly evolving. The new station will be built between rues Ottawa and William, around Griffintown and the Cité Multimédia which is less than a few minutes away from New City Gas, ÉTS, the Lachine Canal, and rue de la Commune in Old Montreal.
"Operating at a frequency of every 2.5 minutes, 20 hours per day, 7 days per week, the REM will breathe new life into the neighbourhood," the company said in a statement.
As it stands, all 26 stations in the network that will connect the South and North Shores, downtown, West Island, and Montreal-Trudeau Airport now have official names.