1. The month of January was dominated by Donald Trump’s inauguration
2. And Brexit was dawning as the biggest political story of the year
3. U2 announced their Joshua Tree world tour at the start of the year
4. In February, Stephen Donnelly switched from the Social Democrats to Fianna Fáil
5. The same month, the Brexit negotiations got off to a good start
6. In March, there was a week of strikes at Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus
7. In early March, the Strike4Repeal took over the streets of Dublin and beyond
8. Gerry Adams was in the news a lot in the early part of the year as the Northern Assembly election campaign took place – and there were so many controversies
9. “Gerry what about that tattoo on your chest? Doesn’t it say “DIE BRITS DIE”?
“No that’s German for “The, Brits the.”"
10. In March, Bertie Ahern said he “won’t rule himself out” of a Presidential bid
Who could forget Paul Ryan’s manky Guinness on Paddy’s Day?
11. “I’d, uh, also like to express MY fondness for… that particular beer.”
12. In April, Danny Healy-Rae said “Nobody caused a fatality by having three glasses of Guinness drank”
13. That was the month Ed Sheeran was everywhere. This was Irish radio at the time:
14. A snap election was called in the UK, and Brexit boasting hit a peak
15. In May, Ireland gave zero points to the UK in the Eurovision
16. In June, Ed Sheeran announced that he’s going to play seven stadium gigs around Ireland in 2018
17. The summer of 2017 saw Corbynmania sweeping the UK… but it didn’t really translate to Ireland
18. In July, the Herald/Stormzy debacle hit international headlines
19. U2 eventually did play Croker, and Ireland had a new Taoiseach by then
20. Another news story popped up about Bertie’s potential run for the Áras
21. Anthony Scaramucci was fired from the White House after just 10 days as communications director
22. The Conor Mcgregor vs Floyd Mayweather fight was talked about through all of August – and the pre-bout trash talking left a lot to be desired
And there was only one phrase on everyone’s lips:
23. Waterford fans came to Dublin in their hordes for a rare All-Ireland final
24. In September, the George Hook story blew up following his on-air comments about rape
25. In the same month, Ireland’s World Cup campaign started to falter
And then went all the way downhill:
26. Mayo suffered another heartbreaking loss in an All-Ireland final
27. Leo’s first Budget dropped in October
28. The same month, SoSueMe responded to accusations to she Photoshopped birds into an Instagram
29. Leo Varadkar was a reassuring presence during Hurricane Ophelia
30. “I’ve sold strippers to Brockway, Ballyragget, and North Haverbrook, and by gum, it put them on the map”
31. As the year came to an end, an election looked like it was on the cards
It didn’t happen in the end, but Fine Gael had a contingency plan:
32. And finally… December was dominated by the Brexit negotiations on the Irish border
Arlene Foster’s last-minute intervention scuppered the original deal:
Then there was *that* Channel 4 News video where people in Britain were asked to draw the border:
We just need the political jargon translated into terminology we can all understand:
Excellent work.
