Galway mayor Hildergarde Naughton has stated that there is no mention of a monument to Che Guevara in the motion passed by Galway City Council.
Reports of the statue to Che, who has Galway roots, have caused international headlines with leading Cuban American Congresswoman Oleana Ros-Lehtinen, head of the House Foreign affairs Committee, demanding the statue not be built in a letter to Irish leader Enda Kenny.
Mayor Naugton is reportedly conducting a rearguard response to the growing controversy and reaching out to council officials with the intention of bringing the matter back before Galway City Council.
'The fact is that there was no reference to a monument in the wording of the motion that was passed unanimously,' explained Mayor Naughton.
'I have spoken to officials in the city council expressing my concern about the matter. It is imperative that the matter comes back before elected representatives and I think that is the forum for it to be dealt with,' she added.
The minutes of Galway City Council’s meeting of Monday, 16 May 2011, include the following proposal: 'That Galway City Council commit itself to honoring one of its own, Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, descendant of two of our Tribes, the Lynch family of Lydican House, and the Blakes. The project to be furthered by liaising with the Argentinean and Cuban Embassies.'
Billy Cameron, an Irish Labor Party councillor in Galway, has scoffed at the claims made by fellow city councillors that they didn't know they had voted to approve a monument in honor of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara.
To underline his point Councillor Cameron dryly asked if his fellow Galway City Councillors thought they had been voting for 'an egg and spoon race?' when they unanimously approved the measure.
Councilor Cameron also had some advice for conservative Cuban-Americans who have taken an interest in the case in recent weeks: they should 'butt out' of Irish affairs, he told GalwayIndependent.com.
Councillor Cameron's remarks came a week after Galway City Mayor Hildegarde Naughton and Fianna Fail councillor Ollie Crowe told the press they had not realized erecting of a monument was part of the plan to honor the famous Argentine revolutionary, who helped bring Fidel Castro to power in Cuba in the 1950's.
'What did they think we were going to have - an egg and spoon race for Che Guevara? There's a lot of politics involved,' Councillor Cameron told the press.
Asked if he would support a less controversial way of honoring Guevara’s Galway links, Councilor Crowe said he would wait to see what proposals came before the council before making any decision, but that he 'certainly wouldn’t support a monument.'
Meanwhile, Councilor Cameron indicated that Cuban-Americans such as Yale Professor Carlos Eire (who recently criticized the monument plan) should not become involved in Irish affairs.
'I won’t be taking lectures from Cuban-Americans, who have their own agenda. I’m looking for a balanced debate. You won’t get balance from Cuban-Americans, or the Cuban-American lobby,' said Councillor Cameron.
'We live in an independent country. We fought long and hard for our independence, we’re not under the jurisdiction of the United States, and they should just butt out of Irish affairs, the Cuban-Americans,' he added.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Silling | Aug 28, 2012, 01:23 PM EDT
I think we need to look at the consequences of the statue not being erected. In which case, Jim Fitzpatrick should be banished like the snakes of 432 for immortalizing The Che with his impression of Alnerto Korda's original painting of Guevara.
crusain | Apr 21, 2012, 05:29 PM EDT
If they honor Che, who's next William Joyce (aka Lord Haw Haw? William Joyce, at least, was an actual Galway man.
el rubio | Apr 12, 2012, 09:10 PM EDT
IrelandNorth, for all his faults, at least De Valera wasn't a Stalinist thug who got off of the murder of innocents like Ernesto Cabeza de Huevo. It's easy to mindlessly idolize the guy when you are in a free country not having to live under the rule of a totalitarian government. By the way, the word "che" means Argentinian, it has nothing to do with the sound he made in speeches. Guevara, a foreigner was called that by the Cubans because thats what he was, an Argentinian mercenary for Castro and Stalinism. It seems that you are speaking out of your "thoin" with regards to el paddy plastico Ernesto "Cabeza de Huevo" Guevara.
IrelandNorth | Apr 11, 2012, 07:19 AM EDT
Hildegarde of Naughten? Is Galway City Councillor Cameron anything to the British Taoiseach? I get a very strong impression that this whole thing has been a proverbial 'ball hop' from the word go. I believe we've been given the royal run around, (or should that be the revolutionary run around in the context of 'Che'). Still, I suppose someone's got to rattle the cages of American republicans, who ideologically oxymoronically seem to have a gra for all things royal. What a strange and unusual world we live in. De Valera's father was Cuban-New Yorker. If Ireland can have a Cuban-American president, it can have a statue to an Irish-Hispanic/Argentinian revolutionary in Galway. His nickname 'Che' came from the sound he made to punctuate his speeche subparagraphs. A bit like African-American - yo, bro! Or as they say in Spiddal - "Los Americanos, póg mó frickin' thoin!"
esatdigiwank | Apr 10, 2012, 08:17 AM EDT
One hopes that if the Che statue goes ahead, Cuba does not reciprocate and erect a statue in honour of De Valera (who was if I'm accurate of Cuban descent).
ciaradexy | Apr 08, 2012, 08:27 AM EDT
Bythebay, there are memorials and monuments to Cromwell in the US as Niall pointed out here 2 weeks ago. I see you referred to irish newspapers as 'your own'. And you tell me youre Irish! Youre a liar!
pilib04 | Apr 08, 2012, 07:38 AM EDT
Big surprise, the Blue Shirt mayor (for the year) of Galway is having second thoughts about a tribute to Che Guevera. Even bigger surprise, the disgraced Fianna Fail is lining up behind Fine Gael. Not to worry, Hildegarde will be out of the Mayor's office in June. Hildegarde was elected because of an agreement between FF and FG.
BARNEYKX | Apr 08, 2012, 06:43 AM EDT
All polititions in ireland should maybe take a leaf out of Che's book ,
SeanO | Apr 07, 2012, 07:17 PM EDT
When Che set up communal farms and factories, they were very low production, Che put a production quota on every worker. When a worker did not meet the quota, their pay was cut accordinaly, when a worker exceeded the quota, they got no pay increase but a letter of comendation. If you complained you were acused of been a counter revolutionary, and you disapeared, and your family suffered real bad..Cuba became a PONZI UTOPIA..
merefalow | Apr 07, 2012, 06:13 PM EDT
good point of view Kevin Keogh,capitalism is great,providing you are a capitalist,they have a bloody cheek calling Che a mass murderer,an amateur compared to them,castro and Che tried to provide a little bit of social wealth redistribution, anathema to neo con usa,these multi national exploiters of the poor were challenged and they didnt like it,che was a great man ,put the statue up.
ciaradexy | Apr 07, 2012, 06:05 PM EDT
Bythebay, why would a statue of someone in another country be of any interest to me? Why would it be any of my business? There are statues of Cromwell in the Uk, do you ever hear of Irish complaining about them? The only reason this was ever mentioned in Irish papers was due to the uproar by yanks! And yet again, we were laughing thinking 'wtf?, mind your own business! Worry about your own country before you lot pretend to give a damn about Cuba'!
cavanpat | Apr 07, 2012, 05:39 PM EDT
Question On Murder and killing;Which Country Killed the most people or caused the most People to be killed since WW2.If you know please Let Know.Was it Cuba?
el rubio | Apr 07, 2012, 05:20 PM EDT
In the Castro regime, Che Guevara basically served the same function as Himmler did in the Third Reich and Dzerzinsky did under Stalin. Cameron and the other Che apologists fail to mention this. By the way, would Councillor Cameron and the other middle class anti-American D4 liberals consider Che a "plastic paddy?" Or is that term only used for Irish-Americans that the hip new liberal Ireland despises?
cavanpat | Apr 07, 2012, 04:17 PM EDT
I hope Galway does not build a statue to che guevara. I have a small farm off the dublin rd, i would love to build a memorial to che guevara and the big fellow and sell all kinds of t shirts and i will make a fortune. this is capitalism at its best.
Irishphotograph | Apr 07, 2012, 03:08 PM EDT
Sean O the Irish American below... thinks Americans should have a say in politics in this country. Otherwise he threatens Americans wont visit Ireland.
SeanO | Apr 07, 2012, 02:43 PM EDT
Who does one have to know for their comment to appear ? ? ?
KevinKehoe | Apr 07, 2012, 02:37 PM EDT
I take it you 3 below also condemn the countless hundreds apron hundreds of thousands of deaths due to American foreign policy and invasion of other countries, propping up murdering governments & dictators across the globe to protect so called American [the 1%] interests. Do yourself a favor, get out a calculated and google deaths due to War the US was involved directly or indirectly in, start with South America, Vietnam, Cambodia, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and soon to be Iran etc.etc. you will be shocked or should be. All these men, women & children of these small countries compared to the US are and have never been a treat to US or the world, just as Vietnam never was. What has happened to the once great conscience of the American people, where are the Heroes gone who marched on Washington monument and across America to stop the killing in Vietnam there name. If the less than 1% who make billions on these Wars shared a few more $ percentages with the hard working American people one might think “ well we want to keep our living standards high” and it still would not be justified , but they don't, there pillaging in the name of America and keeping all the spoils for themselves just as they always have and will. So if the the free and liberty loving people of Galway, Ireland wish to honor a cunning rebel who help’t defeat the the greedy murdering regime that ruled Cuba with the Mafia thats there business after all sure it was cunning Irish rebels who drove there oppressors out of most of Ireland also.
SeanO | Apr 07, 2012, 02:18 PM EDT
Christ Galway, you are making the west of Ireland look stupid, Galway council man, your request for Americans to but out of Irish affairs, is taken seiously, you will see the consequences of your statment in lower tourism..che-che-che-
ciaradexy | Apr 07, 2012, 02:16 PM EDT
This statue was never even an issue in Ireland and was obviously never on an agenda but of course the yanks went mental over any mention of his name. Are you lot gonna request the monuments to Cromwell in the US be removed? Thought not. Hypocrites.
89west | Apr 07, 2012, 01:46 PM EDT
Any publicity is good publicity. Yer man Guevara will do wonders to improve your world image. Don't pass up the opportunity to thumb your nose at the passing parade but don't be blinded by your brilliance, you still owe your masters in Berlin and Paris.
socialjustice | Apr 07, 2012, 12:52 PM EDT
Whether the council was aware of or obvlivious to the nature of the motion on which they voted is, in and of itself, a sad reflection on democracy in Galway. It would reflect well if our elected representatives knew what they were doing. However, with all the problems in the world, choosing to memorialise Che Guevara has certainly put Galway on the map! Perhaps Linz, Austria will choose to erect a monument to Adolph next week, and when the world complains, they can exclaim that the world needs to stay out of Austrian affairs. What else does Galway have to celebrate, commemorate, and memorialize? If Che Guevara is at the top of the list, it is a sad reflection on Galway. It is a sad reflection, but a very newsworthy reflection to people throughout the world. Perhaps when you dismiss the critics of this monument as a narrow clique of reactionary Cubano-Americans and their syncophants, you might look into the mirror and realize that the just the opposite is true: the worshipers of Che are a narrow clique of hard left socialists who are closed-minded to the truth about Che's legacy of mass murder.
rgray222 | Apr 07, 2012, 11:17 AM EDT
It is about time people wake up to who Che really was, at the end of the day he was a rich kid that turned into a psychotic murderer. How can people possibly think he should be immortalized. If you are going to honor someone do so with someone with local ties or at least and Irish heritage that is not a communist killer that was not in his right mind!
joan1954 | Apr 07, 2012, 10:53 AM EDT
This story is getting interesting. Che was a murderer, of course, the Cubans wouldn't say that but people whose family members were killed by him would. If you are going to honor Che honor Cromwell as well as they were both cut from the same piece of cloth. Is there no one in Galway who is native to either the city or county who could be so honored? I could think of one Willy Fahy, born in Galway City but spent his long adult life in the US. And there are most likely others.