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despicable displays
Minions. Hugging dogs. A snow penis. These are the photos that went viral in 2015
Remember where you were when the Minion invaded Swords? (Hopefully not behind a steering wheel, in Swords).
WHAT ARE THE iconic images you remember from 2o15?
The scenes at Dublin Castle, following the same-sex marriage result perhaps? Of Panti appearing alongside Gerry Adams on stage? Or of Vincent Browne being just a little bit overcome at the emotion of it all?
You’ll have to wait for a different list for all of that, we’re afraid.
These are some of the more ephemeral images of the year: the ones that had us all chatting intensely on social media – albeit briefly – before we simply got distracted by something even more remarkable … like Donald Trump’s White House campaign, for instance.
1. The time there was a horse on the Luas
This fellow was spotted on the Red Line in Dublin (sadly, not at The Gallops or Blackhorse) by Una McCrystal. Needless to say, the pic generated quite a bit of reaction.
(TheJournal.ie share count: 5,025 via Facebook, 395 via Twitter and 208 emails).
2. The time there was a horse in Tesco
When you’re casually doing the big shop in Tesco you don’t expect to come across a horse calmly exiting the automatic doors. But that’s exactly what happened in Ballinasloe, Galway back in October.
(TheJournal.ie share count: 174 via Facebook, 42 via Twitter and 41 emails).
3. The Dress
Outfit of the year? The dress made its initial splash back in February, was even talked about by government ministers and then popped up again at Halloween when some enterprising company launched a costume.
(TheJournal.ie share count: 3,224 via Facebook, 125 via Twitter and 140 emails).
4. This ‘sexist’ (not sexist?) Garda tweet
The twittersphere was abuzz with reaction after gardaí posted this back in February. People accused the force of being sexist. In fact, it generated such attention that the Garda Press Office later put out a statement clarifying what it was about.
An Garda Síochána / Twitter
An Garda Síochána / Twitter / Twitter
(TheJournal.ie share count: 84 via Facebook, 64 via Twitter and 34 emails).
5. Jack Charlton being moved to tears
Former Republic of Ireland manager Jack Charlton was presented to the crowd at the Aviva Stadium in advance of the clash with England back in June. Cue a rapturous response from the football faithful…
(TheJournal.ie share count: 1,082 via Facebook, 84 via Twitter and 22 emails).
6. The Glastonbury photo that wasn’t a Glastonbury photo
The below photo is pretty remarkable. It began doing the rounds on social media as the Glastonbury Festival came to a close… But, as we reported back in June, it wasn’t from the UK festival at all, it was actually taken at a festival in San Francisco.
Louise Kirwin / Twitter
Louise Kirwin / Twitter / Twitter
(TheJournal.ie share count: 94 via Facebook, 29 via Twitter and 9 emails).
7. The dancing man
Remember ‘Dancing Man’ Sean O’Brien? The Londoner was the target of some cruel tweets posted online as he danced in a nightclub. A campaign was launched to track him down, and he was flown to LA for a party attended by the likes of Pharrell and Andrew WK. He also popped up on the Ray D’Arcy show later in the year.
Cassandra Fairbanks / Twitter
Cassandra Fairbanks / Twitter / Twitter
(TheJournal.ie share count: 68 via Facebook, 96 via Twitter).
8. The Ryanair snow penis
Ground staff have to amuse themselves somehow. This pic made a splash back in February…
(TheJournal.ie share count: 35 via Facebook, 22 via Twitter, 10 emails).
9. The hugging dogs
Two dogs were saved from being euthanised after a photo of them hugging went viral back in July. Angels Among Us Pet Rescue, a Georgia-based charity, posted a photo of the pair embracing on Facebook. The story went super-viral, and was read over half a million times on this website alone.
(TheJournal.ie share count: 5,554 via Facebook, 236 via Twitter and 72 emails).
10. The time a Minion flew loose and stopped traffic
This story, first reported by TheJournal.ie on the Monday of the August Bank Holiday, made headlines around the world in various different languages. “I actually rang the gardaí. It was quite an odd thing to have to report,” Erin Van Londen, who took the photo, told us.
(TheJournal.ie share count: 18,769 via Facebook, 8,570 via Twitter and 228 emails).
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