With Brian O’Driscoll and Fr. Peter McVerry set to be awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin today, the JOE.ie writers put their heads together to come up with a list of Dubliners who could also lay some claim to the honour.
Previous winners of the right to bring goods into the capital via the gates of the city without paying customs duties, as well as letting their sheep pasture on Stephens Green, include Jack Charlton, U2, Bob Geldof and Gay Byrne.
To narrow things down for this list, we’re looking purely and born and bred Dubliners (as well as a single Bray native, who sneaks in on the DART rule).
Looking at the categories of Arts, Broadcasting and Sport, off we go with the nominees…
Arts:
Gabriel Byrne
One of Ireland’s most successful actors abroad and notorious speaker of his own mind. Famously called ‘The Gathering’ a shakedown of the diaspora. No shrinking violet. We like that.
Christy Dignam
Aslan lead singer and one of the most recognisable voices in the city.
Roddy Doyle
You probably grew up reading his books. If not, this is something that needs to be remedied. The Barrytown Trilogy is pure Dublin gold.
Colin Farrell
Actor, reformed bowzie, almost bumped off the list for his role in A New York Winter’s Tale but redeemed for In Bruges.
Brenda Fricker
Oscar winner and the greatest Irish actress of her, or any, generation.
Brendan Gleeson
He’s come a long way from the classroom and Glenroe. One of the country’s greatest character actors, his role as notorious gangland leader Martin ‘The General’ Cahill is just one of many seminal performances. We also love this.
Glen Hansard
Love him or just about tolerate him, The Frames’ frontman was one of Dublin’s most recognised musical figures even before winning an Academy Award for ‘Falling Slowly’ in 2007. Hansard’s earnestness often has him tagged as a mini-Bono but there’s no getting away from the man’s musical accomplishments.
Pat Ingoldsby
A television favourite when JOE was a nipper, what we didn’t know back then was that the pony-tailed presenter of ‘School Around The Corner’ was actually one of Ireland’s most unsung poets. Pat can still be seen selling his books on Westmoreland Street on a regular basis.
Broadcasting:
Bryan Dobson
Magnificent ties, perfect diction, give the man a moustache and a glass of scotch and you could make a successful Hollywood franchise out of him.
Joe Duffy
We’ve all done it – had a row with a bus or taxi driver and threatened to ‘talk to Joe’ about our ordeal. It’s the new ‘I’ll tell me ma!’ Extra points for being an Après Match staple.
Marian Finucane
Another favourite of Messrs Cooke, Cooper and Murphy, Marian was Joe before Joe was ever Joe (confused yet?), telling off politicians and calling shenanigans on the chancers and ne’erdowells of Mother Ireland before moving to the weekends.
Larry Gogan
The Ryan Giggs of Irish broadcasting, Larry shows no signs of stopping despite being 128-years-old. He should have the freedom of anywhere he damn well pleases for his ‘Just a minute quiz’ alone.
Pat Kenny
Possibly the most realistic candidate on this list for a future candidate, Pat Kenny isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but we love him here at JOE like we love Rich Tea biscuits and a good bowl of porridge in the morning. Y’know?
Marty Whelan
JOE’s second favourite Marty and the best facial hair since Gordon D’Arcy shav… we still can’t talk about it. Too soon.
Sport:
Eamon Dunphy
More flip-flops than a Wexford teenager on holiday in Ibiza – one week “he’s rubbish Bill, a joker,” and the next “he’s a genius Bill, better than Messi.” Which is why we love him. Eamo is no danger to consistency and he doesn’t take himself too seriously. He can get tired and emotional any time he wants in Casa JOE.
John Giles
Ever get the feeling John wants to be at home catching up on ‘Boardwalk Empire’ while Eamon and Liam squabble away to his left? The Senior Analyst should be a shoo-in for this particular honour, as he’s been a Dublin icon for over 50 years and has had to listen to Dunphy for, well, most of that time.
Robbie Keane
Robbie has been a massive fan of the whole ‘Freedom of the City of Dublin’ thing since he was a nipper. He’s also Ireland’s record goalscorer and appearance maker by quite some distance, has rarely failed to show up for matches and is fully deserving of his semi-retirement out in LA.
Paul Kimmage
You get the impression he’d start a fight with his own fingernails but we’d rather sit down with Paul Kimmage for a few hours to talk about sport than pretty much any other journalist in the country. Should get the honour for his Lance Armstrong work alone.
Paul McGrath
If you’re aged between 27 and 36 and grew up watching Jack Charlton’s Ireland, chances are that Paul McGrath was your favourite player. Arguably the greatest player ever to have played for his country. He even made Alan Kernaghan look, ehm, barely adequate.
Kevin Moran
A Dublin GAA icon. An Ireland soccer icon. The sight of a battered and bruised Moran clearing the Ireland decks in the late ’80s and early ’90s is etched into JOE’s brains. Has faded from the public consciousness in recent years, which is all the more reason to give the great man his due.
Jason Sherlock
Three consecutive Club championships with Na Fianna. All-Ireland winner with Dublin. 15 years as an inter-county player. Prolific goalscorer with UCD and Rovers. There was a time when it looked like Jayo could make the move cross-channel, but soccer’s loss was the GAA’s gain.
Katie Taylor
How could we not break the Dublin-only rule for Ireland’s Olympic champion. Anyway, Bray is (snip snip – Wicklow Ed.) and she could easily just hop on a DART to sign the register and pick up her keys to the city.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
