John Hume wins the RTE competition, followed by Michael Collins, Mary Robinson, James Connolly and Bono ( at least according to the Irish Times report. Ryan Tubridy announced the losers ” in no particular order”). Pity no voting figures were given for the phone-in poll. But there we are. No Taoiseach made it to the final five, not even Dev, while Collins did – although I suppose we can count him briefly as the formal head of the provisional government.
Interesting if the mainly southern audience lifted their heads from their current troubles to the perspective of history and awarded the prize to a northerner. Hume’s achievment must at the moment seem far from what preoccupies them at the moment.
I wonder about the absence of figures. Might it have been low poll but with a big lobby from the north, with those keenest winning?
Explain please, RTE.
Former BBC journalist and manager in Belfast, Manchester and London, Editor Spolight; Political Editor BBC NI; Current Affairs Commissioning editor BBC Radio 4; Editor Political and Parliamentary Programmes, BBC Westminster; former London Editor Belfast Telegraph. Hon Senior Research Fellow, The Constitution Unit, Univ Coll. London