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Joey Dunlop

uch

Would Joey Dunlop be considered the most successful Sportsman this Island has seen ? or can you think of someone more successful ?l

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timthumbni

paddy147 wrote: »

I would deem him to be worthy of the title.:)

Another person who I have fond memmories of is Martin Finnegan.

He was a great road racer and was just about to make it big time when tragidy sadly struck.

RIP Martin 45.....gone but never forgotten.:)

That was a great clip. I know that was tandragee but you can see how narrow the road is on the video. On a car I would drive at 40 mph on that road.

Those guys most love the danger. Is their any other modern day sport as dangerous? I doubt it.

flas

a legend in his sport and one of our best,yes,no doubt,but in international sport no...

Plug

Joey Dunlop for me too. Great to see his name on afterhours. 26 TT's to his name, a record. If anyone has seen Irish road racing should go and see it. Look on YouTube for a guy called lockk9. Some serious videos.

I believe in another 10 - 20 years his nephew Michael Dunlop could be also be one of the greatest Irish sporting heros. Four TT wins this year and he is only 24. Absolutely amazing.

darced

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darced

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washman3

Brego888 wrote: »

My opinion on greatest sportsperson is that they need to have been involved in sports that are truly international, played by millions and highly competitive.
And while motor racing has its merits I wouldn't compare his achievements as favourably as the likes of Roy Keane or Padraig Harrington in football or golf.

You definitely are taking the p##s.?
Great respect for Harrington,winner of 3 Majors but his form has seriously waned in recent years. Not the type of performances that could put him in the category the OP has mentioned. He's not even challenging for honours these times.
As for Keane, what exactly has he achieved on an international stage?, except for having the infamous distinction of walking away when he was needed most.
Just imagine Joey Dunlop refusing to race because the road was wet, that's how stupid Keanes argument was.!

brokenarms

uch wrote: »

You have to be Coddin' Seriously !

Maybe he was out all weekend playing golf when channels air BSB, WSB and MotoGP. Friday to Sunday.. all day long .

I personally think its a bit disrespectful to drag Joey,s good name through the riggers of afterhours debate. If you are not in the bike seen then you won't know much about it.

The rest of the world has a massive bike following
.But Ireland, although we have currently some of the best riders in the world competing in the top 5 of the World Super Bikes, it will always be obsessed with Bog ball and English soccer.

I would nearly bet my house on the fact that people in spain know more of the Laverty brothers than people in Ireland.

I blame the rain. And road racing. If we had the tracks the UK have...

Plug

darced wrote: »

Hopefully if he lives long enough to fulfill his potential,such a dangerous sport.

True. The TT has claimed 240 lifes and Irish road racing over 40. His dad died in 2008 in the Ulster go I think.

Jimoslimos

brokenarms wrote: »

The rest of the world has a massive bike following
.But Ireland, although we have currently some of the best riders in the world competing in the top 5 of the World Super Bikes, it will always be obsessed with Bog ball and English soccer.

Yep that's right, in order to support your chosen sport make denigrating remarks about others.

If we're going to name sportsmen who have excelled in sports with limited international appeal then Henry Shefflin is worth a shout.

flas

washman3 wrote: »

You definitely are taking the p##s.?
Great respect for Harrington,winner of 3 Majors but his form has seriously waned in recent years. Not the type of performances that could put him in the category the OP has mentioned. He's not even challenging for honours these times.
As for Keane, what exactly has he achieved on an international stage?, except for having the infamous distinction of walking away when he was needed most.
Just imagine Joey Dunlop refusing to race because the road was wet, that's how stupid Keanes argument was.!

bollocks,any true sports fan in this country has to acknowledge that roy keane was one of,if not the best at what he did in a truely international sport...

he is up there with coughlan and roache..

[Deleted User]

uch wrote: »

I'll repeat the question for those who didn't read the OP,,,

Would Joey Dunlop be considered the most successful Sportsman this Island has seen ?

He gets my vote

Seaneh

flas wrote: »

he is up there with coughlan and roache..

If you're going to mention an Irish cyclist when talking about "the best ever" Roache doesn't even enter the conversation, there is only one option, and it's Kelly.

Howard Juneau

OP, what are the criteria for picking the greatest sportsperson from this isle?
Can we set some sort of parameters instead of just shouting names & then set up a poll....I do like a good poll!

McTigs

Sean Kelly!

World No.1 for five consecutive years and an absolute animal on the bike!

Duck's hoop

flas wrote: »

bollocks,any true sports fan in this country has to acknowledge that roy keane was one of,if not the best at what he did in a truely international sport...

he is up there with coughlan and roache..

As has been pointed out, he achieved nothing internationally. Most sports, including moto racing, are international. Except of course hurling and a few others.

Whoever mooted Shefflin is just being wilfully obstreperous.

Uriel.

thecatspjs wrote: »

George Best? Paul Brady?

FearDark wrote: »

You sure know your sport... :rolleyes:

It's Liam Brady.

uch wrote: »

Most successful sportsman ?

HAHA!!! In your face bitches....;)

thecatspjs wrote: »

He won four handball world championships in a row like!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Brady_(handballer)

Local-womanizer

Brego888 wrote: »

My opinion on greatest sportsperson is that they need to have been involved in sports that are truly international, played by millions and highly competitive.
And while motor racing has its merits I wouldn't compare his achievements as favourably as the likes of Roy Keane or Padraig Harrington in football or golf.

Bike racing is pretty huge tbh. The reason more people don't get involved in it compared to say football is because it's scary as fcuk!

Anybody anyway interested in bikes should watch the docufilm "closer to the edge" Them guys have balls!

Howard Juneau

McTigs wrote: »

Sean Kelly!

World No.1 for five consecutive years and an absolute animal on the bike!

But he wasn't clean

_Puma_

I don't think there can be much argument about whether he is up there as one of the greatest. The greatest coming down to personal opinion. After watching a documentary about the guy on ITV around about the time the TT was on, it was quiet clear the guy was a hard working, down to earth gentleman and a legend in International road racing. Was such a tragedy how his life ended short as he would have been a great ambassador for the sport once he retired from road racing.

Personally I think the guy is the greatest. The dedication and the way he just got on with it when obstacles were put up against him was just amazing. Even after becoming the most successful road racer in the world he was still the down earth and ordinary guy. The way he came back from Injury's and set backs when people would have him written off. If people want to make an informed decision about him I would definitely watch that documentary, kinda puts all the crap about modern day football stars etc.. into perspective

Too Tough To Die

Keane > Dunlop

Lapin

Over 50 posts and no one has mentioned this fella.

By far the most successful participant in the one sport we can truly claim to dominate on the world stage.

flas

Seaneh wrote: »

If you're going to mention an Irish cyclist when talking about "the best ever" Roache doesn't even enter the conversation, there is only one option, and it's Kelly.

naturally enough

I am pie

Keane won a lot of championships with a great Manchester United side, but outside of our narrow vision in Ireland he is not regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world. Scholes and Giggs are correctly regarded as far superior players.

I am pie

O'Driscoll is the one sportsman in team sports that I can name that can correctly claim to have been the best in the World at certain stages in his career.

Show me Keanes Ballon D'Or? Forget about it. Voted 6th when Utd won the European cup and dropped to 27th the season after.

Dunlop sat at the top of his chosed sport, just like Shefflin, O'Driscoll and for a period Tony McCoy. Keane is a bruiser who fled when needed and wasn't the best player in his own team.

gallag

It seems like Ireland is like Korea, Northern Ireland is best Ireland, its nice you guys can live vicariously through our success ;-)

all joking aside its amazing how N.Ireland spits out world class athletes, Olympic gold medallists to several top ten golfer's, mabey our unique British/Irish cultures bring out the best in people.

Plug

Here he is in action, what a legend. Even the first part sums it up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wamdJQXI9w

I am pie

gallag wrote: »

It seems like Ireland is like Korea, Northern Ireland is best Ireland, its nice you guys can live vicariously through our success ;-)

all joking aside its amazing how N.Ireland spits out world class athletes, Olympic gold medallists to several top ten golfer's, mabey our unique British/Irish cultures bring out the best in people.

In fairness Gallag, you have timed your run pretty poorly here. Having just watch us getting a footballing lesson from the mighty Luxembourg I'd be a wee bit less hasty with our claims to greatness! I reckon the Olympic gold medallists are a little thin on the ground these days too !

BraziliaNZ

Don't mean to throw a spanner in the works (wheel?) - but personally I don't count Norn Iron people as Irish! I suppose Rory Mac is ours too?

Plug

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Don't mean to throw a spanner in the works (wheel?) - but personally I don't count Norn Iron people as Irish! I suppose Rory Mac is ours too?

If your born in the island of Ireland your Irish, weather you like it or not.

ScumLord

Brego888 wrote: »

My opinion on greatest sportsperson is that they need to have been involved in sports that are truly international, played by millions and highly competitive.

That is a very shallow view of sports. But I'm sure the incorporated sports teams you follow love to hear that all they have to do is advertise to enough people so that they are the most popular to win the shirt buying loyalty of the fans.

And while motor racing has its merits I wouldn't compare his achievements as favourably as the likes of Roy Keane or Padraig Harrington in football or golf.

Golf? I'm fairly sure that globally motorsport would pull in more spectators and money in general than golf. There are hundreds of classes around the world and people actually want to watch cars going fast where as with golf people just show up for the big international events. Golf is only popular because the old or infirm can play it.