Most important irishmen of the 20th Century

[bcarrier]

In todays paper Kevin Myers says :

With the death of Tony Ryan, Ireland has arguably lost the most important man of the 20th century.

Certainly, he was amongst a mere handful: William Martin Murphy, Patrick Pearse, Ken Whittaker, Tony O'Reilly, Charles Haughey. The Ireland that is today is unimaginable without those men; and the Ireland of the 21st century, the one with cheap flights connecting the Atlantic seaboard with the Baltic Ocean, has Tony Ryan stamped all over it.

Does this make Myers the leading irish brown noser of the 21st century ? ( Eoin harris did his brown nosing before he got the job)

[deiseach]

Does this make Myers the leading irish brown noser of the 21st century ? ( Eoin harris did his brown nosing before he got the job)

Yes

[small white mayoman]

In todays paper Kevin Myers says :

With the death of Tony Ryan, Ireland has arguably lost the most important man of the 20th century.

Certainly, he was amongst a mere handful: William Martin Murphy, Patrick Pearse, Ken Whittaker, Tony O'Reilly, Charles Haughey. The Ireland that is today is unimaginable without those men; and the Ireland of the 21st century, the one with cheap flights connecting the Atlantic seaboard with the Baltic Ocean, has Tony Ryan stamped all over it.

Does this make Myers the leading irish brown noser of the 21st century ? ( Eoin harris did his brown nosing before he got the job)

No mention of Louis Walsh

[Gabriel_Hurl]

Ronnie O'Brien - sure didn't he win Time Magazine's "Man of the Millenium"

[Pietas]

Ireland's most important man of the 20th century was Michael Collins.

Lead an intelligence based revolution and assasinated at the age of 31.

No-one else comes close to achieving what he did in his lifetime.

[Louth Exile]

Ireland's most important man of the 20th century was Michael Collins.

Lead an intelligence based revolution and assasinated at the age of 31.

No-one else comes close to achieving what he did in his lifetime.

I fully agree, but the thing is this....Myers has just believes he was a murderer! He is never going to give Collins any credit.

What about changing this into a poll bcarrier???

[From the Bunker]

Depends on the category?

Sport - Ron Delaney

Entertainment - U2

Politics - Geldof

Fashion - John Rosha

Arts - William Butler Yeates

Media - Gay Byrne

Business - Dunne Family

[ExiledGael]

Politics - Geldof???
Am I missing something?

[J70]

Fashion?!!

Joyce and Shaw would have to be up there in terms of influence in the arts.

U2 may have sold more than the likes of Van Morrison, but are they more important?

[red hander]

Tony O'Reilly? Suck my f****** plums. 

Kevin Myers was, basically, sacked from the Irish Times for describing the progeny of unmarried Irish girls as "bastards".  Kevin Myers was then employed by Indepentent New & Media.  The head of Independent News & Media is Tony O'Reilly.  Tony O'Reilly is probably Ireland's best known "bastard" (I'm talking the dictionary term here, folks).  A good friend of mine was one of the first journalists to intervierw Myers after his switch to IN&M ... he specifically asked Myers how he squared his view of Irish "bastards" with the fact he was now sucking off the teet of the best-known "bastard" in Ireland. Guess what? Kevin Myers, the man with an opinon on everything, refused to discuss the matter.

How can someone like O'Reilly EVEN be discussed in the same breath as Collins, Tom Clarke, James Connolly etc. 

This is the only man in the world with an honourary knighthood who INSISTS on be addressed as SIR Tony O'Reilly.  Great Irishmen? He's not an Irishman.

[deiseach]

This is the only man in the world with an honourary knighthood who INSISTS on be addressed as SIR Tony O'Reilly.  Great Irishmen? He's not an Irishman.

For what it's worth (not much) Tony's knighthood is the real deal, as is his doctorate. He even followed the correct procedure in asking the government for permission to take it. Jean Chretien told Conrad Black where to stick his title when he asked the Canadian government for permission to become a lord. Alas, our prickly history with the Brits prevented our government saving Tony from his own pomposity

[magickingdom]

This is the only man in the world with an honourary knighthood who INSISTS on be addressed as SIR Tony O'Reilly.  Great Irishmen? He's not an Irishman.

For what it's worth (not much) Tony's knighthood is the real deal, as is his doctorate. He even followed the correct procedure in asking the government for permission to take it. Jean Chretien told Conrad Black where to stick his title when he asked the Canadian government for permission to become a lord. Alas, our prickly history with the Brits prevented our government saving Tony from his own pomposity

may be wrong but i think tony is a british citizen...

[deiseach]

He has dual nationality

[john mcgill]

As Pierre Trudeau said "the twentieth century really belongs to those who will build it."  Therefore I nominate as one of the most important Irishmen/women of the 20th Century the person who set up the original GAA discussion board that gave birth to this board.

[Rav67]

Can't believe that idiot Myers put Haughey in the list.

Politically probably Collins as he was the central figure in creating the Free State, de Valera obviously deserves a mention too given the length of time he served as Taoiseach and President and the way he manoevered Britain politically to get a Constitution and and establish the Republic. Connolly was a great man but not one of the most important as in Catholic Ireland no-one was ever really going to pay heed to all his socialist/communist ideology.  Some may scoff but Gerry Adams woud be there too for his management of such a major shift in Irish republianism.

Shane MacGowan was one of the most culturally important for the revolutionising of Irish folk, and Joyce for literature.  Not sure who I would say was the most important individual with regard to sport.