President Michael D Higgins attracts strong backlash for reaction to Fidel Castro’s death

The Irish President labelled the late Castro as “a giant among global leaders”.

President Michael D Higgins has come in for criticism from a number of different sources for his praise of Fidel Castro, the former Cuban President who died at the age of 90 on Friday night. In a statement released on Saturday morning, President Higgins said that Castro “will be remembered as a giant among global leaders whose view was not only one of freedom for his people but for all of the oppressed and excluded peoples on the planet”. President Higgins also praised Castro for implementing “a remarkable process of social and political change, advocating a development path that was unique and determinedly independent”. The statement has come in for criticism in some quarters, with Renua Ireland issuing a statement on Saturday to express disagreement with President Higgins’ view that Castro was “a giant among global leaders”, instead saying that, “the man was a tyrant and a murderer; he should be remembered as such”. A number of tweets referencing darker elements of Castro's regime, such as the thousands of people murdered at his hand, his use of torture and his policy regarding homosexuals were also retweeted from the Renua Twitter account. https://twitter.com/Kasparov63/status/802515151098351616 https://twitter.com/barrycrushell/status/802465450474901504 https://twitter.com/declanganley/status/802575807940100097 https://twitter.com/LCreighton/status/802595422938296321 A statement from Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan, meanwhile, struck a rather different tone to that of the President. “I would like to express my condolences to the people of Cuba at this time,” Flanagan said. “While his legacy is a complex one, Fidel Castro was a major figure in twentieth century history and his death marks the end of an era.” President Higgins’ reaction to the death of Castro wasn’t the only one to garner attention; US President elect Donald Trump’s brief but emphatic response also proved to be a major talking point. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/802499192237080576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw