When Bertie Ahern published his autobiography many felt it would be better suited to the fantasy section of bookshops rather than to non-fiction.
Tony Blair helped bring peace to Northern Ireland, but his alliance with George W Bush brought death and destruction to Iraq, so similarly there are those who feel his book would not be out of place in the crime or horror sections.
The Galway Alliance Against War is now calling on anyone who objects to the stance Mr Blair took on Iraq to “indulge in a bit of fun subversion” in any bookstore selling Blair’s memoirs.
“We want people to move the book from where it is on display to the more appropriate crime or horror sections,” said PRO Niall Farrell.
However Mr Farrell acknowledged Mr Blair’s “constructive part” in the peace process.
“He did not have the ideological hang-ups that prevented the Tories – and also Fine Gael – from engaging with Irish Republicans,” he said. “He could plainly see it was in Britain’s interest to talk with Sinn Féin and the IRA.”
Nonetheless Mr Farrell remains very critical of the former British prime minister’s actions in the Middle East.
“We cannot ignore Blair’s role in the slaughter in Iraq,” he said. “While he worked for reconciliation in the North, he has turned Iraq, the most secular state in the Arab world, into a sectarian hell.”
