scruffy2donut.
i misread you were on about the founder of sinn fein , arthur , yes he should have been shortlisted as well , but cathal brugha was a patriot to the highest order , the country will never see many like him again .

ta32 (Tyrone) - Posts: 4907 - 25/10/2010 21:00:04    803371

Welcome back Ta 32 and deepest sympathies !!

Cavan_Slasher (Cavan) - Posts: 10253 - 25/10/2010 21:12:16    803391

cavan_slasher.
thank you that was nice .

ta32 (Tyrone) - Posts: 4907 - 25/10/2010 21:38:39    803421

25/10/2010 21:38:39
ta32
County: Tyrone
Posts: 2727

803421
cavan_slasher.
thank you that was nice .



I sent my sympathies on dell's thread but it was not published.

Keep the faith.

patrique (Antrim) - Posts: 13709 - 26/10/2010 20:19:25    803957

John Hume, sacrificed the life of his party for peace and deserves great credit for that.

However the like of Adams, McGuinness, Kelly and the rest actually put their own lives on the line for peace, as of course did Collins from the nominees.

Npow I know it is not PC to say Adams or McGuinness or whatever are greater men that Hume, and possibly not any way, but it is also churlish to deny their role in the process.

Fortwenty years we had peace talks which did not include those responsible for the violence which was a bit pointless. We also had talks involving the 4 main political parties to solve the problem, but those parties, including the SDLP were part of the problem as they refused to address the basic issues, the cause of the troubles.

Hume by virtue of being in the SDLP has had a high profile and achieved much. However I still recall the TV programme last year featuring former St Columb's Derry pupils. In that former pupil Bishop Daly of Bloody Sunday fame said "for all the qualities many of the others had, it took Eamon (McCann) to tell us to get off our knees.

McCann refused to join mainstream politics but in the end his input may have been greater than Hume's. Eamon and others like him lit the spark.

After all that we need to realise that it was a nonsense TV programme and left out thousands of great Irish men such as from politics, Parnell, Gratton and O'Connell, not to mention many literary greats as well.

patrique (Antrim) - Posts: 13709 - 26/10/2010 20:28:46    803965

Hey ta32,I noticed you were not around for a bit and judging from another posters remarks it would seem you have recently suffered a personal loss,so condolences my friend and welcome back.

seanie_boy (Tyrone) - Posts: 4235 - 26/10/2010 20:37:10    803971

A thought provoking Post Patrique and with much merit. I also agree that the programme was not (what is the word) complete. all encompassing total you know what i mean. And I find it almost laughable that Bono was given company with such great personages

derryman (Derry) - Posts: 3246 - 26/10/2010 20:43:28    803975

patrique.
thank you .also .
you know eamonn mc cann i always had a lot of time for him he did do a lot , i remember reading a book war in a irish town , did you read it ?

ta32 (Tyrone) - Posts: 4907 - 26/10/2010 21:16:19    803996

seanie_boy.
yes i have been away , and thank you and everyone else for your sentiments , much appreciated my friend .

ta32 (Tyrone) - Posts: 4907 - 26/10/2010 21:19:17    803999

Sorry TA32 I was not aware that you have suffered personal loss but if so my condolences and thoughts are with you.

derryman (Derry) - Posts: 3246 - 26/10/2010 21:25:19    804006

derryman.
thanks derryman .

ta32 (Tyrone) - Posts: 4907 - 26/10/2010 21:36:09    804013

Very good post Patrique!!

wise_guy (Tyrone) - Posts: 1584 - 27/10/2010 08:26:32    804059

Eamonn McCann had a great role to play to be sure, but I don't think its in the same league as Hume. Hume convinced the electorate in the North, South, and across the water that it was ok to talk to the IRA, and carried the day in a way nobody else could have done at the time. His role in the community, from the Credit Union to the SDLP, and his commitment to firmly renouncing violence his entire life are worthy traits.
That said, I've met McCann on several occasions, and he's someone I think a lot of.

abhainn (Galway) - Posts: 1000 - 27/10/2010 09:31:43    804076

i thought it was supposed to be the greatest IRISH person ever- what has hume done in ireland? he has done plenty in britian alright but what has be ever done in ireland i ask? to be honest he is probably behind that plank bono in what he done for ireland! its a bit like voting curchill or cromwell as irelands greatest- very strange indeed

liathroidboy (Mayo) - Posts: 4921 - 28/10/2010 11:17:52    804878

My vote would have gone to Mícheál Mac Dáibhéid, despite him being a Mayo man.

Wests_Awake (Galway) - Posts: 877 - 28/10/2010 11:54:59    804900

27/10/2010 09:31:43
abhainn
County: Galway
Posts: 610

804076
Eamonn McCann had a great role to play to be sure, but I don't think its in the same league as Hume. Hume convinced the electorate in the North, South, and across the water that it was ok to talk to the IRA, and carried the day in a way nobody else could have done at the time.



That was the point I was making Abhainn, Potentially, if he had gone into mainstream politics, McCann was perhaps the more able. Of course Hume towers above McCann simply by being in the SDLP, and therefore his achievements, which were many, received more attention.

However the British and the Yanks had been "Talking" to the IRA and Sinn Fein for years. Hume was the man chosen as the conduit to bring it into the open, and he accepted, at great cost to his party.

Certainly a great man, but there but for the grace of God.......

And the years from 1976 that Adams devoted towards a lasting peace, at great personal risk, cannot be dismissed.

patrique (Antrim) - Posts: 13709 - 28/10/2010 12:07:57    804910

He'd certainly be up there Wests_Awake - and definitely top of the list of forgotten Irish Heroes.

abhainn (Galway) - Posts: 1000 - 28/10/2010 12:12:34    804914

Good post Patrique, alas however I fear it wont be 'acceptable' to recognise Adams' role for may years to come.

On another point Tyrone's very own Hugh O'Neill should surely have been on the list of Ireland's greatest. Anyone who has studied history would surely concur.

Goodfella, Tir (None) - Posts: 1652 - 28/10/2010 12:32:53    804932

Correct patrique, agree with that. Although I instinctively am not quite an Adams man, but he deserves enormous credit.

abhainn (Galway) - Posts: 1000 - 28/10/2010 12:46:26    804944

I voted for the original Mr.Tayto, but only because he was a meath man

Lebowski (Meath) - Posts: 363 - 28/10/2010 16:16:42    805100