LAST UPDATE | 30 Jul 2025

WELL, IT IS well and truly summer time for Ireland’s politicians.

Ministers met yesterday for their final Cabinet meeting until September, while TDs and Senators packed their bags and cleared out of Leinster House for the break earlier this month.

The reduced stream of Oireachtas-related news means The Journal‘s political team have had time to reflect on the progress of the 34th Dáil so far, and now we want to hear from you, our readers and listeners: who should be crowned the winners across our eight categories?

The winners will be announced on Thursday’s episode of our politics podcast The Candidate. Email your answer to answers@thejournal.ie.

The award categories: 

• Best Politician: The TD or Senator, from any party, who stood out for doing their job well.
• Best Newbie: The first-time TD who has stood out most to you this term.
• Comeback Kid: The politician who is back with a bang this term.
• Must-Try Harder Award: The politician who has been missing in action this year.
• Quote of The Term: The best thing to come out of a politician’s mouth this term.
• Clanger of The Term: Something said or done by a politician that was a big boo-boo, gave you secondhand embarrassment, or that you feel was utterly unparliamentary.
• Row of the term: Most bitter or zingy row of the term.
• Best political moment: The most important thing to happen in Irish politics this term.

Please submit your nominations for any or all of the categories by email to answers@thejournal.ie. Make sure to include your name, age and county. Happy voting!