Gregg and Hume recognised as history makers
Harry Gregg, a hero of the 1958 Munich air disaster, made 25 appearances for Northern Ireland
- Published
One of Northern Ireland’s most iconic footballers and two of its Nobel Peace Prize winners are among the latest additions to a national record of history makers.
Goalkeeper Harry Gregg, former SDLP leader John Hume and Peace People co-founder Betty Williams are included in the latest edition of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB).
It documents the lives of people who have shaped the history of the British Isles.
Also added is Queen's University Belfast professor Dame Ingrid Allen, who gained global renown for her work in a number of fields including brain trauma.
The dictionary’s latest update now includes the biographies of people, including 11 from Northern Ireland, who died in 2020.
Tobermore, County Londonderry-born Gregg signed for Manchester United in 1957, becoming the then most expensive goalkeeper.
The following year he was voted best goalkeeper at the World Cup as Northern Ireland reached the quarter finals.
That same year, he bravely rescued team-mates and other passengers following the Munich plane crash in which 23 people were killed, including eight United players.
John Hume with his wife Pat after his election to the European Parliament in 1979
John Hume was one of the highest-profile politicians in Northern Ireland for more than 30 years and helped create the climate that brought an end to the Troubles.
A founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, he led the party from 1979 to 2001.
Mr Hume played a major role in the peace talks which led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
That same year, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with the former Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble.
Peace activist Betty Williams formed Peace People in 1976, along with Mairead Corrigan Maguire and Ciaran McKeown, as a protest movement against the on-going violence in Northern Ireland.
Both Ms Williams and Ms Corrigan Maguire were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for their efforts in trying to encourage a peaceful resolution to the Troubles.
Betty Williams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976
They were at the time, her ONDB biography notes, the youngest recipients of the prize, at 33 and 32.
Ms Williams left the Peace People in 1980 and later emigrated to the United States, returning to Ireland in 2004.
Belfast-born Dame Ingrid Allen authored more than 200 publications and made significant neuropathologist discoveries.
These related to a number of fields including multiple sclerosis, neurodegenerative diseases, viral diseases of the brain and brain trauma.
Other Northern Ireland additions to the latest ONDB include Baron Hutton, a lord chief justice of Northern Ireland, former SDLP deputy leader Seamus Mallon, journalist Chris Ryder and Belfast-born poet Derek Mahon.
Jack Charlton, a member of the 1966 World Cup-winning England team and former Republic of Ireland football manager, singer Dame Vera Lynn, Scottish actor Sir Sean Connery, actresses Dame Diana Rigg and Dame Barbara Windsor and spy writer John Le Carré have also been added to this year’s dictionary.