Labour Lord Mayor Brendan Carr’s choice of candidate for Freedom of Dublin City has provoked strong reaction at Dublin City Council’s monthly meeting tonight (6th February).

Cllr. Éilis Ryan (Workers’ Party) said:
“To grant Dublin’s highest honour to a man responsible for inflicting such harm on communities across the globe, does a great disservice to the residents of Dublin – and, more importantly, to the families of the many victim’s of Obama’s record of war and bombing.

“Its unheard of that the Freedom of the City would be granted to such a divisive figure. Indeed, there has never been a vote on a candidate during my time on the council.”

Cllr. Ryan said that if the intention was to oppose Donald Trump’s actions a more appropriate action would have been to nominate one of the many activists standing up for the rights of those opposed by Trump.

“The United States has seen a phenomenal upsurge in activists taking back their country from Donald Trump’s racist, dangerous politics.

“If the Lord Mayor’s intention was to show solidarity with those opposed to Donald Trump’s racism, names such as Bernie Sanders, Angela Davis and many many more could easily have been found.”