Colin Sheridan: Obama’s silence on Gaza makes Freedom of Dublin award deeply problematic

Dublin is honouring Obama amid a genocide he won’t speak out against — and that silence should matter more
Colin Sheridan: Obama’s silence on Gaza makes Freedom of Dublin award deeply problematic

US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama enjoying a Guinness in Hayes Bar in Moneygall, Co Offaly, during their visit to Ireland in 2011. Picture: PA

There’s a long and noble Irish tradition of giving medals to people who don’t need them. Mimicking our one-time oppressors, we’re good at the pomp and pageantry, terrible at timing. 

And in this grand tradition of ceremonial sycophancy, we’ve now decided to give the Freedom of Dublin to Barack Obama — the same Barack Obama whose presidential legacy includes a kill list, expanded drone warfare, and now, more recently, a silence on Gaza so deafening it practically registers on the Richter scale.

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