In being made a freeman of Dublin, Gay Byrne has had his name added to a list which includes those of Ulysses S Grant, Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa. At first sight there is a paradox, on closer examination there is not.
Gay Byrne, a broadcaster from a Dublin workingclass background, will not be remembered as an international icon or a shaper of victories in arms or politics. He did not prevail militarily as Grant did in the American Civil War. He did not emerge from suffering and imprisonment to rule his country as Mandela did, nor did he impose suffering upon himself for the sake of others as did Mother Teresa.
But he did prevail, he did contribute to the betterment of his fellow citizens and he did help others out of their suffering. In his own context and in his own country, his achievements deserve the same recognition as that given by his native city to major figures on the international scene.
Those who do not remember, nor cannot imagine, the type of repression which once existed in Ireland were well served by a letter to this newspaper yesterday. In it, Mr Brian Quinn, who edited the Evening Herald from 1969 to 1976, outlined the pressure placed upon the media to sweep unsavoury issues under the carpet in the 1940s and 1950s. With commendable honesty he described as "cowardice" the tendency to give in to such pressure.
Today broadcasters such as Ms Mary Raftery in her series, States of Fear, have felt free to reveal the appalling treatment meted out to defenceless individuals in institutions whose mandate was to protect them.
Things have changed dramatically since Mr Quinn's early days in journalism. Gay Byrne more than anyone else has contributed to that change. His showmanship, his penchant for the controversial, his instinct for the type of broadcasting which captured the public imagination, brought him the biggest audiences in radio and television. His fearlessness brought to those audiences subjects which had previously only been spoken about in private and in whispers. Gay Byrne was not a self-declared moral crusader. He did not set out with an agenda to change attitudes, to foster the so-called modernisation of his country. He simply set out to entertain, to provoke sometimes, to provide a good show. That he was prepared to take on major institutions - such as the Catholic Church - did provide entertainment but of a challenging kind. The opening up of Irish society was a by-product rather than the main aim of his efforts. In this respect his contribution was that of an honest and straightforward broadcaster rather than that of a crusader against the establishment.
Gay Byrne has often been exasperating as well as entertaining. To some, his hyper-sensitivity to criticism was annoying. Others have found irksome his occasional tendency to seek refuge in the simplistic - where an individual of his intelligence can well see the layers and complexities. These were the idiosyncrasies of a man who has always put himself and his personality openly and honestly before the public. They are far outweighed by his enormous contribution to broadcasting and to Irish society. He is indeed well deserving of the honour bestowed on him by his native city.