Is Ballina’s Mary Robinson to be Ireland’s greatest citizen?

Is Mary Robinson Ireland’s Greatest?


Anna Marie Flynn

BALLINA’s Mary Robinson could be named the greatest Irish historical figure of all time. The former President has been confirmed as one of the top five in RTE’s Ireland’s Greatest shortlist and will be profiled as part of a programme series starting later this month. From there the public will have a chance to vote to decide Ireland’s greatest historical figure.
Mrs Robinson is the only female in the list and is joined by Michael Collins, John Hume, James Connolly and Bono. As revealed on last week’s Late Late Show, five documentaries will now be shown on RTÉ, each hosted by a high profile guest. Economist David McWilliams will be making the case for Mary Robinson.
While Mayo will be satisfied with the Ballina native’s inclusion in the final list, after Kiltimagh man Louis Walsh missed out, one historian has argued that she should be accompanied by another county native – Michael Davitt.
Speaking to national media on the selection, historian Tim Pat Coogan, author of books on Eamon de Valera, the IRA and the 1916 Rising, said there were names missing that defied all sense of belief.
“It’s popular entertainment. I would have Michael Davitt on the list instead of Bono. Davitt founded the Irish Land League which ultimately forced the British to pass successive Acts that ultimately allowed the dispossessed Catholic Irish to buy land,” he said.
Mr Coogan also questioned the omission of Daniel O’Connell and James Joyce. And he is not alone in his criticism of the selection as UCD professor of history Diarmaid Ferriter also said writers deserved more credit and named Joyce, Yeats, Beckett and Shaw among possible finalists.
A spokeswoman for RTÉ said the names were chosen from a poll conducted at the end of 2009 by Ipsos/MRBI, the independent market research agency.
“The public were asked to name the top five people who they considered to be the greatest Irish man or woman who’s ever lived. The public were then asked to vote online for their favourite Irish person over a 12-day period. From this list the final top five contenders were chosen,” she said
The series, Ireland’s Greatest, is loosely based on the BBC’s Great Britons, with documentary profiles due to be broadcast from the end of this month as part of the autumn television schedule.  The winner is due to be announced on the Late Late Show in October.