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IT’S THAT TIME of year again, where we cast our eye back over the Irish political year to see who has weathered the storms successfully and who has struggled to keep their head above water.
There’s lots to unpack for 2024 – we’ve had the local and European elections, a couple of referendums, the loss of a Taoiseach earlier this year, and throw in a general election to boot.
This year, The Journal team announced its political awards on podcast The Candidate.
You can catch up on the reasoning behind each award by tuning into the episode here.
Editor Sinéad O’Carroll, Deputy Editor Christine Bohan, Political Editor Christina Finn and Political Correspondent Jane Matthews also talk through the Ah Here Moment of the Year and Whoopsie of the Year.
One of the awards is Politician of the Year. We each nominated a candidate and put it to the rest of the team for a vote. Votes were counted by PR-STV by Producer Nicky Ryan.
Agree or disagree, you can let us know in the comments section who you think was most deserving.
Here’s a run down of the awards:
The nominations were: Micheál Martin, Ivana Bacik, Jack Chambers and Eamon Ryan.
The Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin received the top gong for his performance over the last year and for essentially winning the election for his party, getting 48 seats for Fianna Fáil.
“It was an election year. He had a job to do and he did the job,” the podcast team said.
His performance in relation to Gaza was also highlighted, notwithstanding the fact there is an overall view the government can do and should do more.
Looking at where the Fianna Fáil party has come from to where it is now, leading the next government, it is a notable political feat.
To creep out of the shadow of the economic crash and and to come back to be the largest party in the Dáil is some political achievement.
The outgoing Fine Gael minister was given the nod for her work in managing to deliver the largest Social Protection budget in the history of the State – over €2.6 billion worth of measures aimed at supporting our pensioners, carers, people with disabilities and working families.
Her work in getting the auto-enrolment pension scheme legislated for before heading for the hills was also noted upon.
The People Before Profit TD was commended for his oratory and being a voice on the issue of Palestine.
Richard Boyd Barrett has been highlighting the plight of the Palestinian people for a long time now and has spoken truth to power when European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen attended the Dáil.
Labour’s Marie Sherlock managed to stave off Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch from taking a seat in her constituency. Having been a senator and now a TD, the team believe she is a rising star in the Labour Party. One to watch, for sure.
Eoin Hayes, who was suspended from the Social Democrats Party before he could take his seat in the new Dáil, was given this award for obvious reasons.
He found himself embroiled in controversy over the sale of his shares in Palantir. Must try harder in 2025.
Aontú’s Peadar Toíbín gets the nod for this award for his clear and concise communication skills which he has displayed in leaders debate programmes as well as numerous radio and TV appearances.
There were lots of resignations this year – Brian Stanley, Simon Coveney, Eamon Ryan, to name but a few, but the most notable was former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announcing on the steps of Government Buildings that he was throwing in the towel.
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The winners are the politicians…
The losers are the public.
@KTH: Then the public voted for the wrong people.
@KTH: Martin may have won a few votes from Hamas supporters but has don massively damaged Ireland reputation.
@thomas molloy: thomasbot says what?
Historically, when you look at all the political scandals and controversies that Fianna Fail have survived through in this country, having Michael Martin as politician of the year in 2024 is a sad indictment of this country. It seems no matter what that party does, the grey headed voter of Ireland will still vote because their great great grandfather was always a Fianna Fail man. Unfortunately, the youth of this country couldn’t be bothered because they have no clue how to install change and are looking at a plane ticket anyways. If we had an 80% turnout things would have been different.
@Bryan: Irish voters reward corruption and incompetence, they have a strange love affair with Fianna Fail, like the abused wife who won’t leave the husband
@Paul Mooney: That wasn’t what you used to say in your ‘Fintan Pox’ profile.
@Brendan O’Brien: it’s all in your head
@Bryan: We did have a higher turnout than the official one when anomalies in the register are taken into account.
I think it’s simplistic to assume that older people vote one way and younger people another, and that older people always vote the same way.
@Paul Mooney: How’s Gstaad today?
@Brendan O’Brien: they do!
@Bryan: Who would you suggest? The youth of the country have no idea the damage done by the army wing of SF. NI is still suffering the effects of the terrorist campaign.
@Brendan O’Brien: But it’s not a simplistic assumption, one need only look at the polling data from the election to see,quite clearly, there is a generational divide in Irish politics.. is it a coincidence this divide correlates with house ownership amongst the generations ..? whatever the reason, the divide is most certainly there.
@Vincent Alexander: They don’t particularly want to know.. They’re young and want to look to the future. The majority of people on this Island voted for peace.. so that the next generations had a chance to be free from all of this hate .. and look to the future. But you and your ilk want to keep festering in the past.. and stewing in your own anger. That’s your choice.. Leave them out of it. They deserve a different kind of life and future… There’s no room for people like you in the future of this country. Your time is up.. sooner you realise that the better
@Brian:
@Brian: 55% of over-65s voted FF/FG. 45% didn’t.
@Brendan O’Brien: Cherry picking again Brendan.. 55% of people over 65 voted for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, with that figure at 48% in the 50-64 age group.Sinn Féin took just 13% and 16%, respectively in those age brackets. In the 18-24 age group, Sinn Féin took 29% of voters, equal to the two other mid-sized parties. So FFG relied heavily on the over 50s vote.. they struggle for support in the new generation of voters.. So in the proper context( not a cheery picking one) there is a clear divide amongst generations .. I don’t know why you would set out to deny this fact.
@Vincent Alexander: An alternative or at least some level of accountability in this country. I can’t even begin to imagine what caused Leo and Simon to retire from politics, considering the level of forgiveness an Irish politician is afforded. It certainly won’t be discovered by the Irish media.
@Bryan: Met a man I knew recently who claimed he had to vote FF otherwise his father “”would turn in his grave”!! .That’s why SF will never be in power in this country I suspect!!!
@Brian: It’s you and your ilk that want to catch on to SF. 1995 Adams “they haven’t gone away you know”. Last week Ms O’Neill attended the anniversary of three PIRA bombers that blew themselves up. Not very consolatory before the anniversary of the Kingsmill’s sectarian massacre. Then there was the SF MLA posting the video on Kingsmill anniversary with a Kingsmill sliced pan on his head. Ulster University report stating 39% of Northerners suffering from mental health issues from the terror campaign and Ms O’Neill saying it was justified.. Youth should be protected from the SF party mentality.
@Vincent Alexander: jesus man would you ever move on,no one is interested,both sides did things that normal people find shocking,that is what happens in war ,it was the same 1916/22 .
Leave your hatred behind your because no one cares about it ,the GFA showed that the vote was for peace and that was peace for everyone,not just the people you like
@Bryan: Hard to believe that Micheal Martin, a man with multiple homes, who was one of those who bankrupted the State, who had money from a Developer lodged in a personal account, whose answers around Owen O Callaghan are questionable, whose party are constantly mired in scandals under his leadership, Golfgate, Votegate, Cowen, Troy, Collins, are now the largest party in power. The country is run by the Fianna Fail mafia, it’s obvious even at local level with Planning etc, Ireland is rotten to the core. Short odds on us making another 100 years of Independence without another Civil war.
@sean weir: The GFA vote was for peace but it was only last week Ms O’Neill was out glorifying terrorists.
Part of the team who bankrupt the country a few years ago and he is not politician of the year.
John Sullivan the writer of Only Fools & Horses would have loved this material for his comedy writing.
@David Corrigan: Mary Lou McDonald had a very difficult year. Her husband’s cancer battle, the death of her father, issues within her party, yet she still led the party to be the 2nd most popular in the south, even after all the mudslinging and media bias. Cream always rises to the top. Mary Lou will make Sinn Féin stronger, of that I have no doubt.
@Anthony Curran: To be honest, I think she missed the boat with getting SF to the top table. She had two real good opportunities to get them over the line, but fell short.
In saying that, FF and FG had to merge to block that move which didn’ t help. They seem to believe they have a God given right to be in power.
@David Corrigan: I think there would be very long episode about SF & MaryLous failure to win again & expecially the spectacular failure in the 2020 election.
Come the next election if Labour, socdems & other left leaning TDs get h
Their act together they could eat SF lunch.
@Ger Murphy: I would have to agree with that Ger. They had a huge opportunity but like I said, I think they missed the boat.
Without a doubt, we need a term with the merged party of FF and FG on the opposition benches. They can’t manage the countries resources for the benefit of the people. They convince themselves they can and they are but clearly that is not the case.
@David Corrigan: the McDonald article is just one of the glut of cancer related articles on well known figures. Good that this is not hidden, the more coverage the topic gets the better. There is a far more interesting article to be written on why this type of coverage at this point in time (it’s not as if this experience hasn’t been as common at any other time).
@Ger Murphy: I agree but the reality is that there is no evidence that they have either the cop on or the discipline to do that.
@David Corrigan: Have to agree with you David, she missed the boat, the appetite was there for change, I was one of them. She didn’t have her finger on the pulse of the Nation or the bread & butter issues that were affecting working & middle class workers (hate those terms). Ironically her former Colleague Peadar Tobin did. It all unravelled around the same period prior to the Referendums, backed the wrong horse on that, Hate Speech legislation & Immigration, allied with all the flip flops, saw the swing voter disappear. Poor result for an Opposition, where the Govt of the day had failed abysmally & yet she & her party couldn’t capitalize. Her race is run, new leader needed, pick what you stand for, no flip flopping & break the link with Belfast, it’s too obvious who’s in charge.
Mícheál Martin went to Israel, pointed at a hole in a ceiling and had his photo taken, while Palestinian children were being blown to pieces in an open-air concentration camp. That is how we should remember Mícheál Martin in 2024. A man who only changed his mind on Israel’s genocide when it became apparent to him (in an election year) that the Irish people stood with Palestine.
@Anthony Curran: in fairness what did you think Martin should do- go al Rambo and single handlily catch Israeli missiles in his teeth?
@Anthony Curran: Irish people actually stay with democratic Israel against palestinian and lebanese terrorists!
Winners: Politicians bank accounts
Losers: the public who’s taxes have to pay for this gravy train
Now queue the closet political cheerleaders to come on defending and deflecting
@Tom Newell: They’re mostly out of a job now the election is over Tom. It’s nice to see a thread where people are just discussing politics without the shills and trolls spawing crap.
To all you people who voted these Muppets back in again.
UP YOURS
@reg morrisey: Happy Christmas Reg
Did you ever see such **** in your life.
@Andrew Kelly: yes now I have
@Andrew Kelly: what frustrates me is the Senate carry on.
Anne Rabbitte and co were rejected by the public, roundly rejected but of they pop in as senators now.
Like, do the parties involved not think, well this might look bad folks.
@Sea Spirit: Enda Kenny wanted to get rid of the senad. Opposition parties said it was a power grab, and so the country decided to retain it. There’s arguments for and against it, but seeing politicians limping in after losing their election bids is a bit jarring.
Pity there isn’t an award for the most useless and out of touch politician. The joint winners would have to be Helen McEntee and Roderick O’Gorman.
Politicians are only interested in themselves,and on at least 3 x Nat wage at that. Do not believe there is such a thing as honest one
I don’t think too many carers and pensioners would agree that Heather H and her “giveaway” budget deserves an accolade. Rather than lowering the cost of energy/cost of living, one-off payments just line the pockets of the energy companies. Double payments in social welfare payments are just pre-election gestures and do not resolve the underlying problems.
Do the media intentionally show the photos of them with thumbs up just to wind us up?
Eamonn Ryan nominated as politician of the year? Did I read that right? In what alternate universe could that buffoon be considered politician of the year?
@Anthony Curran: A candidate in the eyes of the Journal staff, who were very pro Green Party. The bias in some articles was an insult to Journalism.
Where’s the jumped up school prefect Simon Harris in all this? Is he off polishing the big boys cars so they might notice him and pat him on his weird head?
The Irish public as usual are the losers
@Jb Walshe: Speak for yourself.
Winners are everyone except the Irish people. As it has been for decades, ramped up since 2011 with record homelessness, houselessness and ever worsening health and law and order.
Such a chilling picture in the middle, shame on all who re elected Martin. You don’t want better days for your country and no matter what the preference, you put one down for this crooked man with a list of failures as long as Trumps. He has lost 3/5 gen elections as FF leader still and if Fg weren’t so out of touch, he would have gone and just lost another
Depressing enough when that clown is our politician of the year
@Marty Moose: leaky running away from the public he hates lower down. Finn the author defo would have voted for him
Richard Boyd Barrett, opposition, give me break
Depressing
You missed the “Shot themselves in the foot” award. The fallout from the Israeli Embassy closure has yet to manifest itself.
@Frank: What fallout?
@Frank: Who shot themselves in the foot? You think Ireland will become unpopular for supporting human rights?
@Brendan O’Brien: I think that the Israeli decision was strategic and had support in certain quarters of the US. Expect calls for repatriation of multinational tax (to US) and increased pressure on us to join NATO and pay for our own defence.
Only time will show if I am correct.
@Frank: People living in cosy safety protected by Irish Sea, English military and NATO forces and U.S. military with bitter words about a people in their homes and homeland surrounded and threatened by vicious religious murderers are irrelevant to the real world and it’s treacherous reality. Is it Stockholm Syndrome when people side with the people who start the killing war and then hide amongst women and children as a publicity strategy.
@thomas molloy: ‘It is a great shame that Ireland is a special case, but the shame is not Ireland’s. That our country – its people, and its political establishment – is making its voice heard above the deafening silence of most other western nations is something of which we can, for now, be proud. I don’t believe in the idea of being on the right side of history. The histories of the future are none of our concern. Our concern is the present. And our country is, in at least this one important sense, on the right side of it.’
@thomas molloy: Who are NATO protecting us from? NATO nations are supplying weapons being used in genocide. Who wants to be part of an organisation that does that?
Whinger of the year award – it’s a toss up among the SF front bench.
@Vincent Alexander: Nah… toss up between you Badger and H Woo.. lol.
@Michael Collins: If your definition of a whinger is calling out SF propaganda and attempts at manipulating public opinion through social media, yes we are in there. Ms McDonald in the Dáil with her cultivated inner city accent is the epitome of a whinger.
@Vincent Alexander: easy Vincent your sash is showing
@sean weir: Typical Northern Irish SF mentality. Akin to McGuinness calling Southerners who didn’t agree with him as West Brits.
@Michael Collins:
No, definitely the shout man and the set of bagpipes sitting beside him.
The winners are the Irish people for making the right choices on election day and keeping the SF rabble away from power.
I don’t get this part of the team but he is not a banker the bank’s couldn’t count so they ran out of cash they caused the problem the government & the tax payers suffered
Sneering tossr Martin.
have your say