In these tiresome days of The X Factor and Cult of Personality, a decent Irish cult hero can be hard to find. After scouring the role call of the nation's truly cool, here's a brief celebration of a handful of our favourite citizens - spanning every industry. Each one is a true artiste to a fault. By Derek O Connor.

THE SONGWRITER'S SONGWRITER - DAVE COUSE

When is Dave Couse finally going to get the respect he deserves? True, the recent (and rather contentious) Irish Times list of the top 40 Irish Albums of all time put Couse's finest hour - A House's monumental 'I Am The Greatest' - at No 3. But many would have seen it go higher. It's been a decade since A House finally called it a day with an unforgettable farewell show at the Olympia. Since then Couse has delivered a pair of impeccable solo albums - Genes and The World Should Know - while struggling to find an audience befitting his stature as, well, The Greatest. We're not overstating the case here: Couse's unique brand of heartfelt, literate pop brought his former band to the cusp of mass adoration and those razor-sharp lyrical instincts remain fully intact. We won't be satisfied until he's declared lord mayor Of Dublin and his 'Collected Lyrics' are put on the Leaving Cert syllabus. All together, now "All art is quite useless, according to Oscar Wilde...."