Hurling - DJ
Football - Matt Connor
Snooker - Ken Doherty
Athletics - Sonia
Soccer - Paul McGrath
Boxing - Steve Collins
Cycling - Sean Kelly
Rugby - Simon Geoghegan
Horse Racing - Aidan O'Brien
Show Jumping - Eddie Macken
Shooting - Derek Burnett
Darts - Mick McGowan
Swimming - Michelle Smith
Motor Racing - Eddie Irvine

dwinkle (Longford) - Posts: 176 - 16/10/2008 16:29:51    120555

have to agree with the donegal man george best wins hands down. a legend a name recognised the world over the best bar none. in a sport that is as widely played the world over with as many great stars few would compare with bestie probably in the top 5 of all time in european/world terms and an antrim man to boot should keep that moaner in belfast quiet for a few hours at least, hope he has the ticket bought for the glens big date in cork.

reddoctor (Tyrone) - Posts: 1241 - 16/10/2008 16:31:15    120559

offally nice fair enough roy keane statement,I grant you that one ,not a fan of him anyway, however how can you say that about Sonia? so she didnt get a olmpic medal ,but think of all the other races she won and the pride she gave the whole country.
I beleive she tells in the book the reason for it, a person can be sick a day you know, So she get sick and suddenly she not worth a mention.
No other person has given us so much pleasure over a long space of time.
Look at Michelle smith , disgraced us, Cian o' Connor, What ever the guys name was this year, and odd boxer here and there, we think were brilliant this year cos we got 2 bronze and a silver .
Deverlie o rourke didnt show up at all why she felt ill, yet nobodies gives her the grief that Sonia Got.
In my opinion it would be Sonia, Padrig Harrington, Christy Ring ( simply because no matter what age /county you still hear of him,25 years after he death,legend)
Caseys of Sneem, (a family of wrestlers ,think every one of them won a world title 7 boys i think , Kerry boys will confirm it ) Barry mcguigan. ( his prefomance in hells kitchen brilliant)
Question what was that boxer name from Cobh , world champion also but died a pauper , Jack something ,

ver (None) - Posts: 228 - 16/10/2008 16:35:57    120564

Tony Cascarino by a mile folks, surely!!!!!

Seriously, i think Sean Kelly has to get a mention, people are mentioning Stephen Roche, but he couldn't even pump up Kellys tyres FFS! Kelly may not have won Le Tour, but he won everything else!!!

Bald Eagle (None) - Posts: 1009 - 16/10/2008 16:38:33    120569

dwinkle, michelle smith?????? are you serious!!

bad.monkey (USA) - Posts: 4649 - 16/10/2008 16:42:54    120576

16/10/2008 15:45:30
Naomh Ultan Abú
County: Donegal
Posts: 153

Georgie Best by a mile. Anyone who can get completely wallied before a match and still outplay his peers by a country mile is a total legend. He drank his own body weight most days, shagged most Miss Worlds in the 70's and 80's, and Pele called him the greatest footballer ever. C'mon. He even drank away two livers.Now that's class!

Ah leave him alone lads. Shock! Horror! Alcohol being glamorised on an Irish web-site. FFS the country is full of people whos only aim at the weekend is to get blotto. And I suspect there might be one or two on this site as well!! And who hasn't had a laugh at his "... the rest I wasted" comment. No need to take the moral high-ground at all.

RMDrive (Donegal) - Posts: 2202 - 16/10/2008 16:46:55    120580

RMDrive
County: Donegal
Posts: 976

Ah leave him alone lads. Shock! Horror! Alcohol being glamorised on an Irish web-site. FFS the country is full of people whos only aim at the weekend is to get blotto. And I suspect there might be one or two on this site as well!! And who hasn't had a laugh at his "... the rest I wasted" comment. No need to take the moral high-ground at all.
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Please take note folks, a serious post from RMD! ;-) I agree wholeheartedly i might add!

Bald Eagle (None) - Posts: 1009 - 16/10/2008 16:53:30    120587

dwinkle, serously, Michelle Smith???

lino_de_legend (Dublin) - Posts: 816 - 16/10/2008 16:54:31    120590

"Seriously, i think Sean Kelly has to get a mention, people are mentioning Stephen Roche, but he couldn't even pump up Kellys tyres FFS! Kelly may not have won Le Tour, but he won everything else!!!"
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Sean Kelly was good but as you say he never won Le Tour. Also Roche is 1 out of only 2 people in history to win The Triple Crown which is the toughest thing to achieve in cycling

bad.monkey (USA) - Posts: 4649 - 16/10/2008 16:55:10    120593

Rio Bingo
County: Tyrone
Posts: 219

I'm going to be ultra controversial here and plump for Jim Stynes! One of Aussie Rules' greatest ever players!
_______________________________________________________________

Rio, not controversial at all mate, in fact i'd be inclined to almost agree. To see at first hand the way the Aussies think of him and admire the man in unreal. He took up a new sport and won the highest honour going in it, the Brownlow medal. If any man deserved to win a Grand Final it was him.

Bald Eagle (None) - Posts: 1009 - 16/10/2008 16:57:27    120597

probably either sonia o sullivan or conor mortimer

roy keane - not a chance. The most thing people remember about him is "the day he clattered into marc overmars in the first minute." Ya, his greatest contribution was to kick an opposition player. Class

whiterbannnas (Mayo) - Posts: 2441 - 16/10/2008 16:59:10    120602

Ya. Drinking is cool

whiterbannnas (Mayo) - Posts: 2441 - 16/10/2008 17:00:51    120604

i think sonia over rated herself and shud have won an olympic if she was that good but never did. on our side matt connor is a legend of football and yet he didn't play as long as other players did which was a great shame for the gaa. i think george best was a legendary footballer but paid the price for the lifestyle he had. similar to sonia who apparently shud not eb judged by never winning an olympic medal - the fact that george best was an alcoholic sure not take from how talented a playr he was

offalynice (Offaly) - Posts: 17 - 16/10/2008 17:04:05    120611

I'm still thinking of who I would vote as Ireland's greatest ever sports star so will have to come back to you on that one.

I do have an opinion on some of the names already mentioned though.

In the boxing both Steve Collins and Barry McGuigan's names are popping up. To me, being a great sportsman means transcending the sport they participate in as well as having greatness in their chosen field. Sure Collins was Middleweight champion during a tough era but outside of the ring there have been certain allegations made against him which don't paint him in a positive light. The Clones Cyclone on the other hand was not only a world champ but united Ireland behind him and continues to work with cross community schools even now. For those reasons I 'd put him above Collins.

Cycling, well Stephen Roche won the Tour de France but was he a better cyclist then Kelly? Tough one that so I'll have to pass.

And for the soccer players mentioned, both Roy Keane and George Best didn't exactly cover themselves in glory both on and off the field so I'd possibly put Liam Brady above them perhaps?

In regards to the GAA I hope in 50 years time we'll still be talking about Joe Canning.

Wests_Awake (Galway) - Posts: 877 - 16/10/2008 17:09:31    120618

ROY KEANE!!!

rubberduck (Antrim) - Posts: 113 - 16/10/2008 17:19:58    120640

offalynice
County: Offaly
Posts: 5

120611 i think sonia over rated herself and shud have won an olympic if she was that good but never did
*******************************************
what are you on about, have you ever listened to Sonia o' Sullivan ,speak unlike most modest person you meet,she never went on how good she was, Media ,fellow sportperson did.
And whats this IF she was that good, SHE WAS the best this county has and ever will turn out.

ver (None) - Posts: 228 - 16/10/2008 17:21:00    120644

1. Padraig Harrington.
2. Ronnie Delaney.
3. Michael Carruth.
4. Stephen Roche.
5. John Treacy.

All winners at World events.

Cavan_Slasher (Cavan) - Posts: 10253 - 16/10/2008 19:00:47    120699

roy keane def...sure didn't he win the champions league and isn't dat outside of england??

ffgg (Longford) - Posts: 2571 - 16/10/2008 20:39:55    120753

Padraig Harrington!!

kefan (Kildare) - Posts: 498 - 16/10/2008 22:40:00    120831

Ffgg, if you want to be picky and I'd say some here will be, Keane didn't actually win the champions league as he was suspended for the final. He got a medal as far as I know but he himself doesn't value it as he didn't play, and doesn't list the champions league as one of his honours. But he is just as responsible for it as those who were on the field in the Nou Camp. If it weren't for Keane I doubt they'd have got there. Even after getting the yellow card against Juventus in the semi early on, he went on to produce the best performance of his career, dragging the rest of Man Utd to the final whether they wanted it or not. What a legend.

mid-mon man (Monaghan) - Posts: 1680 - 16/10/2008 22:51:16    120840