Elections, restrictions, and a boozy brunch: the most read articles on TheJournal.ie this year

Thank you for reading.

AS EACH YEAR draws to a close, we pull together a list of the most-read articles on TheJournal.ie.

There’s usually a couple of surprises, but then you can probably guess what virus features heavily.

The list reveals a particularly disparate range of pieces. They either represent the biggest stories, the information you – our readers – wanted to seek out, or the stories that struck a chord.

Here’s the top 10 most read – thank you for reading.

1. First case of Covid-19 confirmed in the Republic of Ireland

Views: 585,494

Cast your mind back to 29 February when the first known case of Covid-19 was confirmed in Ireland. There was rightly huge interest in this story as the country had been anxiously waiting for the virus to be confirmed in the Republic after the first case in Northern Ireland was confirmed days prior.

At the time the only information released was that it was a male in the east of the country who had travelled to Ireland from an area in Italy where coronavirus had been detected.

2. Filling up: Here’s the state-by-state guide of who’s taken where

Views: 528,961 Views

The story we knew would dominate 2020 was the US election, and naturally, we all followed the results very closely.

Hundreds of thousands of you checked in on this handy resource, put together by TheJournal.ie team, which shows states and electoral votes taken by each candidate.

As you’re well aware by now, Joe Biden passed the magic 270 votes needed to become the 46th president of the United States.

3. Covid-19: Dublin secondary school to close for two weeks after pupil confirmed as first case in Rep of Ireland

Views: 510,379

Now back to Ireland’s first case of Covid-19. A north Dublin school with 400 pupils announced on 1 March that it was closing for two weeks after confirming one of its students to be the first known case.

There was a lot of fuss at the time when health officials refused to name the school. But as is the case now, patient confidentiality is respected in all outbreaks.

4. France orders full lockdown, large jump in Irish cases expected and a European travel ban: Today’s Covid-19 main points

Views: 509,944 Views

The sheer volume of Covid-19 news from March onwards was a lot for anyone to take in. In an effort to condense the details of the Irish and global lockdowns, cases, and travel bans TheJournal.ie compiled a main points piece every day.

There was a lot of interest in this one from 16 March when the government advised pubs across the State to close their doors for a fortnight to ensure that social distancing guidelines are followed. Some fortnight.

5. Calls for Dublin bar to be shut down after ‘outrageous’ video shows them breaking Covid-19 rules

Views: 501,771 Views

Back on 16 August when pubs could open if they served food, one Dublin bar found itself at the centre of a media firestorm after footage was shared online of customers and staff not adhering to Covid-19 guidelines.

The footage from an organised brunch at Berlin D2 showed customers who were not social-distancing and a barman pouring drinks into people’s mouths, to the dismay of public health officials and fellow publicans. The footage prompted gardaí to formally objected to the bar retaining its licence.

6. Coronavirus: 27 new cases in Ireland, six patients now in ICU

Views 497,208 Views

The daily updates from the Department of Health are part of the fabric of our daily lives now. But on 12 March they were new and scary.

That evening it was confirmed that there were now 70 known cases in the country.

That same morning, the country stepped up its response to the coronavirus, moving into the ‘delay’ phase of dealing with Covid-19 as then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar made his dramatic announcement from Washington.

7. New restrictions: No visits to households allowed from tomorrow night, except for essential reasons

Views: 489,633 Views

Back on 14 October, when Ireland was in Level 3, new restrictions were announced advising people not to visit other households indoors or in their gardens.

There was an obvious interest as readers tried to keep up with the ever-changing government advice.

At the time, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the move was due to “poor application or adherence to the measures” in the areas of home visiting, sports training and events, and people going into the workplace when they “could and should work from home”, as well as “slippage” in areas such as retail.

8. Coronavirus in Ireland: A county by county breakdown of where the virus has infected people

Views: 488,274 Views

When the HSE released the information on where the coronavirus had struck in Ireland on 18 March, people were naturally curious.

At the time, there were only 366 cases in the country.

9. Taoiseach tells everyone in Ireland to stay at home for two weeks from midnight tonight, with only specific listed exemptions

Views: 486,322 Views

As Ireland’s cases continued to rise, on 27 March then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced a two-week long stay-at-home order for everyone.

Cocooning was also introduced for over-70s and the medically vulnerable as they were advised not to venture outside their home or garden – a concept that was later criticised by older people’s charities.

10.’I am very worried’: Warning from Dr Holohan as over 1,000 new cases confirmed

Views: 474,099

Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan voiced his concern at the escalating case numbers on 10 October.

Holohan said he was “very worried about the numbers we are seeing and how quickly they are deteriorating”, as Ireland began seeing daily case figures similar to April.

As we know, cases continued to rise and nationwide Level 5 restrictions were imposed on 19 October.

And just for completion, here’s the rest of the top 20:

Cabinet agrees to impose nationwide Level 5 restrictions for six weeks (469, 248 views)
Here is a complete list of all the TDs elected to the 33rd Dáil (462,284 views)
Here’s the list of ‘essential’ workers who can still go to work (429,740 views)
Taoiseach says ‘active consideration’ will be given to NPHET’s Level 5 advice as leaders set to meet tomorrow (422,008 views)
NPHET recommends entire country move to Level 5 restrictions (410,208 views)
Opinion: When it comes to schools re-opening, why is no one talking about Switzerland? (404, 647 views)
Coronavirus: Seven new cases confirmed in Ireland including first community transmission (401,374 views)
Irish coronavirus patient describes how it feels to get the illness and what happens when you tell the HSE (398,108 views)
New Covid-19 restrictions for Kildare, Laois and Offaly to kick in from midnight (397,847 views)
Four new cases of Covid-19 coronavirus confirmed in Republic of Ireland (383,896 views)