Proposed Che Guevara sculpture on the prom

harryd2

Anyone know what the outcome of the City Council discussions on this last night were?

For those who are unaware, there's a proposal to erect a Che Guevara sculpture on the prom.
Some US politician has asked the Taoiseach to reject plans for it.
Galwaynews have a poll on the proposal.

Personally I think it would add some character to the prom, so would be in favour.
Some say it's hypocritical for the US to be pontificating about human rights.

inisboffin

We didn't knock Lynch's Castle
Doesn't Che have roots here too?

Robbo

Before this descends into a quagmire about the merits of Guevara, his Irish ancestry and US foreign policy; I'd be opposed to it as the mock-up circulated to the papers looks absolutely terrible, it's in an oddball location near Seapoint and isn't in keeping with the character of the area.

cfeeneyinterior

They should put it at the kicking wall

NIMAN

His ma was Irish afaik.

biko

I'm going to add a poll to this thread so we can see what boards posters think.

c_man

The Prom has plenty of character as is, down with this and the charity box :pac:

antoobrien

I don't think the prom is a good place for any sculpture, but I'm definitely not in favour of this.

snubbleste

A sculpture of a peeing canine might be more suitable for the location tbh

ciano1

Wasn't he one of the Guevaras from Loughrea?

Rob A. Bank

If we can erect a monument to Christopher Columbus, who had no family connections to Galway, we certainly can erect a monument to the son of Ernesto Guevara Lynch.

And if some want to forget about the shameful history of US corporate neocolonial exploitation of Latin America (United Fruit Company et al) and support for military coups and vile brutal dictatorships (Batista and many others)... too bloody bad !

And if it annoys the likes of Declan Ganley, even better still !!!

RDM_83 again

Well at least Columbus probably visited Galway (he certainly refences events in the city)

I've got no problem at all with a Che statue (that is actually has a bit of character) but it just seems a bit strange putting it in Galway City, I mean he never visited, Limerick or Shannon were the only places in Ireland AFAIK and theres a good argument that his Irish roots were from Clare (or left Galway in 1715!).

surime

This is crazy! Was not there in history enough real heroes and people who deserve a sculpture?
Who is he for most of the people - a teenage T-shirt hero???
He was responsible for a death of many people and he was a communist..

a "trendy rebel star" !

Hannibal

NIMAN wrote: »

His ma was Irish afaik.

Ché was Ernesto Guevara de la Serna.
His father was Ernesto Guevara Lynch
His grandmother was Ana Isabel Lynch
Her father and Ché's great-grandfather was Patrick Lynch who was born in Galway.

Ché's heritige should be a source of pride for Irish people similar to how Admiral William Brown and Bernardo O'Higgins are remember in Dublin with monuments.

Hannibal

surime wrote: »

This is crazy! Was not there in history enough real heroes and people who deserve a sculpture?
Who is he for most of the people - a teenage T-shirt hero???
He was responsible for a death of many people and he was a communist..

What has being a communist got to do with what one achieves in their life? Do you even know what communism is?

Ché was responsible for people deaths, so was nearly every military and political leader the world over. Look at the conditions in Cuba, Angola and Bolivia before Ché arrived in them countries and you will see what he was fighting against.

surime

Dotsey wrote: »

Do you even know what communism is?

Yes I know, I was born in Poland.

Diabhal Beag

I am fully in favour. His contribution to Galway is undeniable. Shur he built Connemara on a hangover-ridden Tuesday.

Hannibal

surime wrote: »

Yes I know, I was born in Poland.

Was Poland a communist country or just some oppressive regime calling itself communist because the state wanted to control all aspects of life?

Communism based on what was laid out in the Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels has never been achieved anywhere in the world.

RDM_83 again

Dotsey wrote: »

Ché was Ernesto Guevara de la Serna.
His father was Ernesto Guevara Lynch
His grandmother was Ana Isabel Lynch
Her father and Ché's great-grandfather was Patrick Lynch who was born in Galway.

Has anybody actually confirmed any of this properly at all? I mean loads of websites give his ancestory as dating from 1715 which would make him much further removed.

surime

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwMpoDcfE_o


-watch 1.30

Hannibal

RDM_83 again wrote: »

Has anybody actually confirmed any of this properly at all? I mean loads of websites give his ancestory as dating from 1715 which would make him much further removed.

it was confirmed in a book I read about him by Jon Lee Anderson, apart from Ché own diaries it's probably the most comprehensive book about Ché's whole life

BeardySi

They should reopen O'Ché's wine bar while they're at it! used to love that place!

Mrs OBumble

I think ye are all forgetting exactly how many Galway jobs are based in American multi-national companies.

Not a hope in hell that this will get built.

civis_liberalis

What is the total cost of this?

inisboffin

Plenty of Yanks fond enough of Ché and his beliefs.
Generally not with the same politics as heads of multi-nationals, in fairness

civis_liberalis

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

Shur he built Connemara on a hangover-ridden Tuesday.

That would actually explain quite a lot.

paky

Dotsey wrote: »

What has being a communist got to do with what one achieves in their life? Do you even know what communism is?

Ché was responsible for people deaths, so was nearly every military and political leader the world over. Look at the conditions in Cuba, Angola and Bolivia before Ché arrived in them countries and you will see what he was fighting against.

agreed. bastita was involved in the deaths of at least 20,000 cubans during his reign. you could call the cuban revolution a legitimate response to this.
however, cuba was responsible for backing rebels in the congo and che guevarra himself assissted them. these were the very rebls which were responsible for the death of irish peace keepers so its not all clear cut

leeroybrown

I'm not really taking an opinion the political side of it but I think the proposed design is awful and not in keeping with the area at all. In my opinion those kind of multi-layered pieces only work well indoors where the lighting and direction of arrival of the viewer are controlled.

I am however enjoying the pissing match it's kicked off between the various factions.

xflyer

It's a ridiculous idea, don't we have enough gunmen of our own to commemorate? Whatever you say about our ruthless gunmen and killers at least they were trying to establish a free and democratic country unlike Cuba which no matter way you look at it is a repressive Communist regime run by a Dictator.

Why don't we just put up a statue of Fidel Castro or Osama Bin Laden while we're at it?

There are certain people in this country who would love to see Ireland become like Cuba. Not a nice idea.

Pure Sound

JustMary wrote: »

I think ye are all forgetting exactly how many Galway jobs are based in American multi-national companies.

Not a hope in hell that this will get built.

This has to be one of the worst arguments I have heard against it. By that logic American multinational companies would find it hard to set up anywhere. American companies will be here whilst it is still profitable for them to do so, they will not put an insignificant statue (to them) in the way of financial gain. If they were to be that fical they would not be as large and successful as they are. If you were to argue that the structure was a bad design or that it was the wrong place I would understand.

Che Guevara has links with Galway and I believe that people like him that have such an influence on worldwide politics as Che should be commemorated. I'm unsure of the design and the location though.

Pure Sound

xflyer wrote: »

.
Why don't we just put up a statue of Fidel Castro or Osama Bin Laden while we're at it?

I didnt know Osama Bin Laden and Fidel Castro were descendents of one of the the Galway tribes