Mick Clifford's A to Z of 2025: Here are the highlights and lowlights of the year
The British TV series was released on Netflix in March and created a storm. The plot centres on a 13-year-old schoolboy who is arrested for the murder of a girl in his school.
It follows the plight thereafter of the boy and his family, as they come to grips with what has occurred. Co-created by actor Stephen Graham, each of the four parts in the compelling series is seen from a single perspective among those impacted.
The overriding theme is to ask what precisely we are teaching young boys today.
As put it in a five-star review, the series “asks who and what we are teaching boys and how we expect them to navigate this increasingly toxic and impossible world when our concept of masculinity still seems to depend on boys and men doing so alone”.
Last July, Donna Hughes-Brown was detained after returning to the US from a holiday in Ireland. Ms Brown was born in England to Irish parents, who moved the family the USA when she was 11. She has been a green card holder for the last 47 years and married to Jim Brown for nearly a decade.
On her return to the US she was detained on the basis of issuing a dodgy cheque to the value of $60 a decade ago. She later repaid the money but in Trump’s America, that has singled her out as suitable for deportation to Ireland, a country she has never lived in.
She has been locked up since. Her husband told the that he and she were conservative Christians. Jim Brown says Trump has created an America where he hates anybody who opposes him.
“But he has taught the other side the same thing. And that’s what we need to get away from. He has caused such rhetoric on both sides that they hate each other and that is what is so wrong with this situation.”
Donna was finally released on the weekend before Christmas after her five months in custody. “My case is done but there are so many folks that are facing similar situations,” she told RTÉ's .
It was some year for Ciara May Alice Thompson. She released her album in August and earlier in the summer put in an appearance at Glastonbury while also receiving Mercury prize nominations.
The Dunboyne native is seen by some of her fans as being a voice of her generation. She is not afraid to shy away from politics, particularly as it impacts on her generation’s biggest bugbear, housing.
Early in the year she released the eponymous single from her forthcoming album which had the lyrics: “All the big boys, all the Berties, all the envelopes, yeah they hurt me…I was 12 when the das started killing themselves around me.” Ouch.
She firmly lays the blame for the fall-out from the 2008 economic collapse at Mr Ahern’s feet and had said previously that if The Bert ran for the office she would “actually make it my personal fucking mission to make sure that he doesn’t win”.
No wonder he didn’t run if that was what he was facing.
In October, after she failed in her bid to receive enough nominations to enter the presidential race, Maria Steen appeared at the gates of Leinster House to rail against the “oppressive political consensus” that did her down.
It wasn’t what she said but what she carried which captured attention. She wore on her sleeve a Hermes handbag, accessory of choice for the well monied as it retails somewhere north of 10 grand.
How could somebody who presented as a people’s candidate be wearing on her arm a thing that would mean food on the table for months for a family in financial hardship.
As it turns out, Ms Steen had the precise answer to that. In a subsequent interview she claimed that “the handbag was deliberate” rather than an oversight.
“I wanted to expose the hypocrisy of the left who don’t love the poor, they just hate the rich,” she said. Make what you will of that.
is the title given to one of the best documentaries of the year, released in January. It is a study on the life of the late writer, Edna O’Brien.
The film features plenty of eye catching footage of Ms O’Brien in her youth when she was the life and soul of rock ‘n roll society in London. It also covers her turbulent and painful break-up from her husband Ernest Gebler which in effect set her free to become a writer who broke barriers wherever she went.
The most compelling aspect, as laid out in the review in the Irish Examiner, features the older Edna as she looks back “on her life in straight-to-camera interviews, which are intercut with examples of the many obstacles (most of them man-shaped) she was obliged to overcome.”
She was one of a kind and Sinead O’Shea’s beautiful film is a fitting tribute.
At the peak of his powers, and in deference to his ability to find space where there was none, DJ Carey was known as The Dodger. This was the year that came a reckoning for the serious fraud that persisted for a decade or more, perpetrated by one of the greatest hurlers the game has even seen.
On November 3, the Kilkenny man was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison on 10 counts of committing fraud by falsely presenting himself as having cancer. The amount at issue was in excess of €400,000.
“A final comment,” Judge Martin Nolan told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court as he concluded the sentencing. “I couldn’t imagine a more reprehensible fraud than to tell people you had cancer and to extort money from them on that basis.”
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The year was another of heartbreak, tragedy and dwindling hope of peace in an area that has been flattened by the Israeli Defence Forces. On January 15, a ceasefire came into place which saw an exchange of prisoners for hostages.
That broke down and a second, but in September a third ceasefire was organised. By October 9 a tentative ceasefire was holding as the IDF withdrew from some parts of the strip.
Even while that is ongoing there have been repeated incidents of the IDF opening fire and killing either militants, or just as frequently, civilians.
Meanwhile aid agencies are still not allowed to enter an area where there remains serious humanitarian problems, not least for children.
Prior to the All-Ireland senior men’s hurling final in July, bookie Paddy Power paid out on Cork winning. It was a publicity stunt but also an insult to the Gods of Fate.
All year bar the odd hiccup there was an expectation of Cork going the full distance after being pipped with a last-minute point by Clare the previous year.
Pat Ryan and his team did their best to dampen down expectations but it was no good. In the end, Cork didn’t win.
House private, no flowers. Next year brings a bright new day and renewed hope for a county and city.
The topic has mushroomed throughout 2025. In the November 2024 general election, an exit poll found that immigration was important to 6% of voters. Yet the new government has moved, apparently in response to the public mood, in tightening up how people can come into the country.
High-profile deportation flights were undertaken to show the public at large that something was being done.
In November, the minister for justice Jim O’Callaghan brought in a raft of new measures, which, he said, were required to slow down the increase in Ireland’s population.
Some see the measures as an attack on fundamental human rights. Others see it as a tightening up of a system that needed it.
And the government sees it as currying floating votes, which in a firmament with little policy difference, is all the more important.
On May 27, the minister for justice Jim O’Callaghan issued a public apology to the family of Shane O’Farrell. The Carrigmacross man was out for a cycle near his home in August 2011 when he was knocked down by a motorist who should have been in prison at the time.
Zigimantas Gridziuska had more than 40 convictions and had broken the conditions of a suspended sentence but still remained at liberty. He didn’t stop and came forward the following day to admit what had occurred.
For over a decade, Shane’s mother Lucia led a campaign to find out the true circumstances behind Gridziuska being free at the time he killed her son.
The family wanted a public inquiry but a scoping exercise found that one wasn’t warranted. Then O’Callaghan — who in opposition had supported the family — made an adroit political move in offering the public apology. Shane’s family deserve some attempt at closure.
Fianna Fáil TD, John McGuinness, who had supported the O’Farrells along the way spoke for many on the day.
“Since Shane's death, the family have relentlessly pursued truth and justice for him. It has not been an easy journey and there have been many setbacks along the way, but they have remained steadfast. I salute their courage, dignity and resilience over the past 14 years.”
The West Belfast rappers made news more for their politics than music this year. In April at the Coachella music festival in California they unfurled a Palestinian flag that caused uproar.
Soon after a complaint was made about a video from a London concert in November 2024 showing Mo Chara waving a Hezbollah flag. Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation sponsored by Iran and detailed to kill and cause destruction in the Islamic state’s interests.
A police investigation followed and Mo Chara was charged under anti-terrorism law. The charge, it was generally agreed, conformed to the dictum that the law is an ass.
After a series of court appearances, each of which turned into a good natured rally, Mo Chara walked free when the judge ruled there was a flaw in the prosecution case.
Despite all that, the band continues to grow in popularity. In November, they announced their biggest gig yet at Crystal Palace Park in London next June.
So said the guard to the Burke. Repeatedly in court cases through the year, members of the Burke family from Castlebar had to be ejected from a court which was wading against the tide trying to get young Enoch to obey the law.
Enoch was back in chokey as the year came to an end and Judge Brian Cregan said there would be no Christmas break for him. Twice before he got out for the festive season and did the Burkian equivalent of going on the batter — he went back to school.
In December, he was in court on video from Mountjoy, but his brother Isaac and sister Ammi, along with the mammy, were told to leave. Ann O’Loughlin’s report in the Irish Examiner produced some fine pictures in the mind with her court report of the ejections.
“Isaac was pulled out of the seat first by a garda and then lifted bodily with one garda holding his legs and the other under his arms.
“Martina and Ammi continued to stay sitting, and despite repeated requests by a garda sergeant to leave, they refused and repeatedly said they had a constitutional right to be in the courtroom.
“They refused to leave and Ammi was the first to be pulled out and her mother followed surrounded by gardaí. Ammi eventually had to be pulled out the door.”
On October 2, Manchan Magan died after a battle with cancer. He was 55 and it is safe to say was beloved by practically all who knew him.
His TV series, his books and particularly his promotion of the Irish language all brought him to a wide and appreciative audience.
Michael D Higgins spoke for many when he said: “Manchán’s vision and understanding were not limited to Ireland or the Irish language, but to what we share and are connected to with all forms of life that live within native and indigenous cultures, languages and communities across the globe.
"I have no doubt that his influence will continue to live with all those whom he met in all corners of the globe.”
Another subject up for grabs throughout the year. The programme for government signed in January has a commitment to do away with the triple lock, specifically the requirement for a nod from the UN before more than 12 Irish troops can be deployed overseas.
The slow legislative pace means the matter has not yet come before the Oireachtas but is due early in the new year. Some see the bill as a required move in a world that has changed hugely in the last few years, particularly with the invasion of Ukraine and Donald Trump’s election.
Others see it as a step on the road to the end of neutrality. Meanwhile, it remains unclear what kind of neutrality we have in this country. Expect plenty of sound and fury in the new year.
On August 16, the Gallagher brothers walked on stage in Croke Park and began blasting out the past. The most hyped concert tour of the year, if not the decade, was well underway by then.
Reviews were sparkling. Everybody had a good time. But for those Oasis watchers hoping for an on-stage bust-up, preferably informed by fisticuffs and the odd kick to the goolies, it must have been a disappointment.
“I guess when all is said and done, we’ll sit and reflect on it, but it’s great being back in a band with Liam,” Noel said. “I forgot how funny he was. Liam’s smashing it and I’m proud of him.”
All sweetness and light so. For now.
The transglobal institution, the World Bank, whose brief is to oversee developing countries, got a new recruit in November.
Paschal Donohoe, this state’s finance minister and a senior and steady hand in Fine Gael at a time when both are in short supply, was appointed managing director and chief knowledge officer of the organisation.
He is a big loss to Fine Gael for his know-how and political nous and a big loss to the coalition because he always managed to get on with his Fianna Fáil colleagues in government.
“It has been a privilege to serve my country as a public representative,” he said on his last day as minister.
“I want to now do the same in the work of the globally vital institution that I will join, at a time of great change in our world.”
No doubt the bobs will help as well with a salary of around €400,000 coming with the job. Still, nobody could doubt his competence and his departure does illustrate that politicians today generally will not stick around for the full length of a career until retirement or ejection beckons, which really is no bad thing.
On June 22, Damien Duff resigned as manager of Shelbourne football club. It was some shock. Since he took the helm at Shels he had been, certainly from a media point of view, the best thing that ever happened to Irish football.
He was quite obviously in love with the game and with Shels. But the pressure got to be very heavy and he decided to walk away. Hopefully he will be back in some capacity.
On August 29, Claire Byrne announced that she was quitting RTÉ and within an hour it was also announced that she was joining Newstalk. She had been a staple on the national broadcaster’s schedule for over a decade and her decision came as a shock.
The move prompted a major shake-up in RTÉ radio which has since been recast, but it’s fair to say it has yet to bed down comfortably.
Claire broadcast her last daily morning show on RTÉ Radio 1 on October 31.
The five days of Troy Parrot, over which he was delivered into immortality, began on Thursday, November 13. He scored two goals to ensure that the Republic of Ireland would go to Hungary the following Sunday still with a hope of qualifying for next year’s World Cup.
So it was in Budapest that the dead generations of Irish soccer players and followers received their just desserts when, in contrast to all the history in the game in this country, we were on the right side of a last-minute victory.
Parrott had been the next best thing in the offing a long time and on that evening he arrived with practically the last touch of the game. A thousand headlines were born such as 'Slick As A Parrott', and 'Who’s A Pretty Boy, Then'.
Now, against all expectations of a year ago, Ireland can get to the World Cup with a win over the Czech Republic in March and if victorious against either Denmark or North Macedonia in Dublin four days later.
Have we another Trojan horse to do Troy’s work next time around?
On January 23, Micheál Martin was elected Taoiseach for the second time. He was due to be elected the day before, but the Dáil had to be suspended in pandemonium over objections to a deal hatched by Martin and his coalition partners.
This deal would allow some independents to sit on both the government and opposition benches. They would be engaging in what Boris Johnson once described as “cakism”, having their cake and eating it.
In the end though the new Taoiseach was installed. In his acceptance speech, Martin said it was "a sad development in many parliaments in the world that they have become more angry and divisive.
"They have become forums dominated by the inflated rhetoric of demonstrations rather than a place where different groups can argue in good faith and respectfully disagree," he said.
All very true but questions remain as to why this is now the case and what can be done about it. As for the new government, suffice to say it remains unloved.
He took office in January and since then he has done his best to suck power away from other institutions in order to rule like a dictator.
In February, while still settling in to his second term, he tweeted a quote from Napoleon that largely sums up his own approach to governing.
“He who saves his country does not break any law”.
During the year, Trump tested that dictum to its limit while making some money for him and his family.
In despair at the corrosive effect he is having on the basic concepts of liberal democracy we can do no more than invoke the at the time of the Russian revolution.
Trump, we’re keeping an eye on you.
The Independent Galway West TD Catherine Connolly declared her candidacy for the presidency early but to little fanfare. The smart money said she would have an uphill battle as candidates of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were likely to transfer to each other.
Connolly kept the head down and her feet light as she canvassed far and wide and attracted an army of volunteers. Luck was on her side but she made the most of it.
Fine Gael’s Mairead McGuinness had to withdraw. Her replacement Heather Humphries was selected from on high in the party without any contest and over in Fianna Fáil the experiment of running Jim Gavin blew up mid-campaign.
On the day of the election, October 24, Connolly won by a huge margin of 63% to Humphries 29%. It was a resounding victory on the back of a professional and passionate campaign.
"This win is not for me, but for us,” she said shortly afterwards. “We were told clearly and loudly a new republic is needed, that considers everyone... I am a symbol for the new movement."
What precisely that new movement is, who it includes and how she will articulate it or symbolise it remains to be seen.
On November 11 she was inaugurated as the 10th president of Ireland.
As part of the deal to form a government in January, Verona Murphy was selected by the prospective government to stand for election to the office of Ceann Comhraile. She became the first woman to chair the Dáil.
It was an unlikely elevation, certainly until recent months at least. In 2019, the former boss of the Road Hauliers Association was selected to stand for Fine Gael in a by-election in her native Wexford.
Following controversial comments about immigrants she was quietly dropped after her defeat in that poll.
Undeterred, she ran as an independent in the 2020 General election and made it past the post. She was re-elected in 2024 and has now broken new gender ground with her appointment.
Conor McPherson’s play, now 30 years old, got a fair old outing in August and September in Dublin when its cast included Brendan Gleeson, Tom Vaughan Lawlor and Sean McGinley along with Owen McDonnell and Kate Philips.
Vaughan Lawlor, best known for his role as Midge in the TV series was in particularly flying form in the play set in a rural pub where all is never what it seems.
The review in the Irish Examiner as elsewhere, was pretty gushing and ended with: “Here, the supernatural meets the deeply personal.
"As we realise we are all haunted, Gleeson’s Jack delivers one more story. His own one, of regrets, lost love, and ‘what might have been’.
“We’ve all been there. And thus, we are absorbed by empathy into this world of stories and their telling.”
Elon Musk was too busy filleting the American public service for his erstwhile buddy Donald Trump early in the year to pay too much attention to his personally owned media platform.
Usage on X dropped 13.3% from 148.5 million daily active users to 128.8 million in the year to October 2025.
Throughout the year the tone of X went further down the toilet, with algorithms geared towards far right and anti-immigrant sentiment with a fair bit of sport thrown in as a form of opium for the masses.
Trump’s own social media platform Truth Social grew in daily average users on mobile devices by 32%, though traffic for the platform varies widely month-to-month and appears to spike only after Trump makes big announcements.
Say what you like about the dangerous authoritarian but he is a master communicator, just like a few other abhorrent personalities throughout history.
Ask high-flying CEO Andy Byron and senior HR executive Kristin Cabot who were caught on camera in an intimate clinch at a Coldplay concert in Boston last July.
In ancient parlance you could say Bryon was with a woman who was not his wife. Cabot was single at the time.
The couple were embracing when the camera caught them and the world quickly came to know who they were, what they were up to and what precisely they each ate for breakfast that morning. Welcome to the viral world.
When caught on the video camera, Coldplay singer Chris Martin joked about their awkward reaction. “Oh, look at those two. All right, come on, you’re ok.” Then he said “Oh, what? Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.”
Maybe they were shy because they were having an affair, although this was later denied.
Andy was soon fired from the company and Kristen left soon after. Really, you just can’t do anything these days without a camera picking you up.
It has been another year of living dangerously for the Ukrainian president. On March 1, as his country continued to be pounded by Putin’s Russian forces, poor old Volodymyr was subjected to a tirade of abuse from Donald Trump in the Oval office.
Trump felt he wasn’t getting enough respect from the Ukrainian at a time when the new US president was trying to think of ways to strip assets from the eastern European country.
By year’s end, Zelenskyy was on another apparent dangerous foreign expedition when he touched down in Dublin Airport for a one day visit.
He was greeted warmly by the government although his trip to Aras an Uachtarán was less so, according to the body language of President Connolly. To be fair the new Uachtarán may just be trying to settle into her role.
After he had come and gone it emerged that Russian drones had been spotted a few miles out in the Atlantic. The Taoiseach assured one and all that Zelenskyy had never been in danger, but the whole incident once more brought to the fore this country’s attitude and capability in the area of defence.
So ended a turbulent year. Here’s to 2026 and let’s hope it’s a good one. If things go any way well in Ukraine the A-Z next year may even have to come up with something new to fill the last slot in the alphabet.
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