IF THERE’S ONE thing you can say about TheJournal.ie readers, it’s that you’re a diverse bunch when it comes to what you like reading about.
The most read stories on the site this year covered a broad range of issues. The majority of the 10 most popular pieces were breaking news stories, but there’s also an opinion piece about suicide, a story about a Russian flashmob, and not one but two articles about the local and European elections in May.
Here’s the list in full:
1. Who is your new local councillor? Here’s a list of everyone elected (8 June)
Views: 544,221
What was it about? The votes were cast, the ballots were counted and these were the results: 949 councillors were elected to Ireland’s city and county councils and this was a comprehensive list of who got in where.
2. 15-year-old Sait Canbullu found safe and well in Sligo (14 September)
Views: 237,201
What was it about: A 15-year-old boy who went missing from Wexford town was found in Sligo the following day. Initial reports from gardaí had suggested that the teenager was bundled into a car by two men wearing balaclavas but this later proved to be untrue.
3. Russian thugs beat up St Patrick’s flashmob after mistaking it for gay activists (24 March)
Views: 228,677
What was it about: A group of men in Siberia beat up people taking part in a belated St Patrick’s Day flashmob after they mistook the participants for gay activists.
4. Child rescue alert cancelled as two-year-old Hassan Khan found safe and well (10 August)
Views: 211,803
What was it about: Gardaí cancelled a national alert for 2-year-old Hassan Khan and his father after both were found safe and well. However the story had a tragic end in October when Hassan was found dead. His mother Hazel Waters has been charged with his murder.
5. Column: ‘He was given a clean bill of health, walked out of the hospital and took his own life’ (28 April)
Views: 194,208
What was it about: After the death of 20-year-old Glen Murphy McNally, his cousin Conor gave this moving speech at his funeral asking why more wasn’t done to help him.
6. Man who spent over four hours on six-storey Dame Street building taken away safely (1 July)
Views: 189,511
What was it about: A large-scale emergency services response was dispatched and parts of Dublin were closed down as a man spent more than four hours perched on top of a six-storey building in Dublin city centre. It ended when the man was taken away safely by gardaí.
7. Ebola ruled out for patient in Dublin hospital (15 August)
Views: 181,374
What was it about: The HSE ruled out Ebola after patient presented with flu-like symptoms in Dublin, saying there had been no official suspected cases of the virus in Ireland.
8. As it happened: Local election results 2014 Saturday (25 May)
Views: 180,022
What was it about: The liveblog began at 9.23am and ended at 4.37am the following day – almost 20 hours later – as Ireland went to the polls to elect city and county councillors.
9. Third body found in north Cork after twin brothers (9) found dead (4 September)
Views: 178,661
What was it about: The horrific story was the first report about Tom and Paddy O’Driscoll, the 9-year-old twin brothers who were killed by their older brother Jonathan before he took his own life.
10. John Gilligan shot during christening celebrations in Clondalkin (1 March)
Views: 174,299
What was it about: Convicted criminal John Gilligan was shot three times in the leg and chest as he attended a family party after a christening.
And just for completion, here’s the rest of the top 20:
11. Peaches Geldof has died age 25 (171,275 views)
12. ‘I was just 27 and I was butchered’: Symphysiotomy survivors in their own words (170,025 views)
13. Buying a house? Here’s what you need to be earning under the new rules (166,390 views)
14. Robin Williams found dead at his home in suspected suicide (165,333 views)
15. The most economically depressed town in Ireland is... (163,980 views)
16. All FIVE Garth Brooks concerts have been cancelled (161,375 views)
17. Irish students who left destroyed apartment are shamed by the news in San Francisco (159,033 views)
18. Hundreds of women held a silent vigil at Coolock Garda Station tonight (156,449 views)
19. Malaysian passenger plane shot down by surface-to-air missile over Ukraine (153,673 views)
20. Battered: Your pictures of how the storm took its toll (146,083 views)
All figures correct at the time of being compiled
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say