US politician tells Galway officials to halt Che Guevara statue plan

As a man of two countries I find it hard, sometimes, to sort out what I think about the various national issues. This Che Guevara thing, though, leaves me with few doubts. He wasn't interested in Ireland or her people, and he most certainly did commit monstrous acts in the name of his political ideal. To allow US opinion to drive Irish policy would be a lessening of us all, but is there any real need to go insulting them, especially over someone with as mixed a history as Che Guevara? We should honor people not only for where they're from, but also for what they stand for and (perhaps most importantly) how they move us forward as a people. Think about this a bit: wouldn't we all be better off celebrating our strengthening ties with China rather than our tenuous connection to a notorious and questionable man who advocated nuclear war?

Town gate your comments show your ignorance on economics especially when at least 11% of your GDP comes from tourism. If everyone in Ireland is so in love with Che and Cuba why don't the thousands of Irish who have left in the last couple of years and are still leaving go to Cuba instead of to those nasty bastions of capitalism like the USA, Australia and Canada.

BLah,blah,blah,blah blah, blah. third time this articles been reused, is everyone that writes for IC on vacation.

During the 2011 Irish presidential election, the recently elected Fine Gael (FG) 26 county majority government spread black propaganda that a centrist Sinn Fein presidency would alienate US investment in Ireland. This was bitterly denied by Irish-American billionaire philantrophist Chuck Feeney by pod cast on the McGuinness4President website. Mr Feeney recently announced he's pulling out all funding for altruistic projects in Ireland by 2016 - the centenary of the 1916 Rising! Any correlation? If so, how will FG explain the loss of funding to these projectees. Now a centre-right Fine Gael councillor is playing party political football with a centre-left Labour Party motion, to the detriment of Ireland generally. To my certain knowledge, no Irish politician, has ever presumed to dic[k]tate to any US administration what monuments should be erected there. Ireland celebrates all her Irish diaspora equally, whether American or Argentinian. Mr King is well aware of Ireland's tragic experience of British imperialist interference. It would be a shame to replace it with an American equivalent. Self-seeking Irish politicians are gamabling with Ireland's sovereignty to the detriment of its citizenry.

This is just one politician's opinion. If the people of Galway can't think of anyone else in Ireland more deserving of the honor of a statue and want to spend their money on it, then go for it. I really don't care if they put up 100 statues of this guy. It's up to them. I won't be wasting any of my time to see it, though. Ireland has much better things for me to visit than a statue to Che Guevara.

Ah they won't touch us here in Ireland, sure we only have a small amount of oil.

What does Peter King fear, really? He fears a mere symbol of the revolutionary spirit that can arise when workers are burdened with high unemployment, heavy taxes to support corporate welfare and low-to-no tax on millionaires, and the corrupt politicians who profit from and protect this system. He fears the middle class' growing distrust of capitalists, its demand for tight regulation of banks and Wall Street. He fears an American 26th of July Movement arising if the plutocrats, empowered by the Supreme Court's "Citizens United" decision, succeed in buying the next US election. All of this adds up to a good reason to raise a monument to Che anywhere anyone wants to do so, if only to keep right-wing zombies like Peter King on edge. Thanks, Galway.

Folks I am so sorry about our Congresscritters here in the USA. My apologies to the IRISH, Mr King represents himself not the rest of us. Here is the note I sent him::: Dear Mr. King, I would like you to cease and desist your opinions and threats to the state of Ireland. I frequently Ireland and you sir are puuting me at risk. Irish do not like ugly Americans telling them what to do. If you are a man you would look at the USA's history and know that we are capable of doing much more harm (Iraq, Drug War) that a statue of Che. In addition he was a freedome fighter and by taking this stupid threat to the irish you are being quite hypocritical but then I guess we AMERICANS are being to realize that you congresscritters are that way and you also lie to get your way. You have no ground to stand on, not an iota. I asked that you shut your mouth in regards to the Irish. XXX XXXXXX An unimportant citizen of the USA.

As an issue of Irish American relations...it means nothing...for a congressmen on long Island it apparently means alot. The citizenry in America ought to get there politicians to focus on problems in there districts not get headlines from across the sea. As far as Che goes if the Irish want to follow this fella and raise memorials to him...so be it, then you have a place to go a visualize why your in the state your in.

Erect the statue and sod the Yanks! Ireland is a free and independent country. The USA is an interfering imperialist bully. As the great Pete Townshend said, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss!"

Great to see that the good congressman can take time off from stirring up hate against Muslims and tackle the real burning issue of the day for Long Islanders.

Let Mr King be honest about it all. A 12 ft. statue of Fulgencio Batista, and a photo gallery of the American mobsters that were running Havana at that time would be appropriate in his district. Perhaps some sort of a memorial I.E. little white crosses for the thousands that were disappeared during the Batista regime. Guevera was a physician that came from money, that was tired of seeing abject poverty. The newly arrived Irish/Ameriican right ,is like an Albatross who's wings are too short, and Mr King is the mouthpiece.

Still smells like blackmail to me - or a 5 year old that says, "If you don't do as I say, I'll take my toys and go home." So you go. I'm sure there will still be help from the US from other people here.

Why is a statue in Galway any business of America?

@pilib04 Don't you mean was a sovereign country until the IMF arrived, another American organisation.