Tisova Street will definitely disappear from the map of Varín. After years of controversy it will be named after an important native of the village

Nine of the ten Members present voted in favour of the adoption of the relevant general binding regulation (GBR).

The Varín municipality decided to change the name of the street after the Administrative Court in Banská Bystrica upheld the claim of the prosecutor of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Slovak Republic at the end of June and ruled that the municipality's General Municipal Regulation, in the part where it determines the name of Dr. Jozef Tiso Street, is not in compliance with the Act on Municipal Establishment.

The municipality published a draft of the bylaw in early November, and the naming commission proposed a new name, Ulica SNP (SNP Street). The municipality recorded nine comments in the comment procedure, and at the November council meeting the councillors granted the one proposing to name the street after the Varín native and papal prelate Jozef Noga.

Mayor Michal Cvacho pointed out that due to a substantial change in the draft ordinance, the municipality decided to repeat the publication process with a 14-day comment period.

Other names did not stand

The municipality recorded three comments on the new draft. The authors of one of them pointed out that "the new name is phonetically difficult, complicated and harder to pronounce for both children and elderly citizens".

They requested a neutral street name using the name of a tree or craft. However, the deputies not only did not comply with their comment, but also with other new naming proposals - Ulica Yew and Ulica Jozef Gabčík.

Former MP Lenka Ticháková, who has been trying to rename the street for several years, also followed the MPs' decision.

"First of all, I am happy that after so many years this has finally come to an end. I don't mind this new name. A priest who has embezzled his mission will be replaced by a priest who has spread the good word about our village," Ticháková noted.

They also tried it through a referendum

The residents of Varín also had the opportunity to express their opinion on the possible renaming of Dr. Jozef Tiso Street the year before last in a referendum held in parallel with the local elections. However, the referendum was invalid as 47.13 percent of eligible voters took part in the vote.

At that time, 360 residents voted in favour of renaming the street and 1 053 residents out of a total of 3 036 eligible voters voted against renaming the street.

See the archive interview about Jozef Tiso with Katarína Závacka from the Slovak Academy of Sciences: