HAPPINESS IN IRELAND in 2014. A concept that may jar with the 400,000 odd Garth Brooks fans out there.
All the same – the last year has had its moments. Through the Irish Water rain cloud there has shone quite a few rays of sunshine – some genuine happy moments that make us feel like everything is going to be ok.
Here’s some of our favourite moments from the last 12 months. What did we miss? Let us know in the comments.
On the weather front – things have been pretty good. In July we got our obligatory minor heatwave.
Around the country on July 22 things managed to hit 25 degrees – making Ireland hotter on that day than San Francisco, Capetown and Sydney. Go us.
The best thing about the weather this year was the seemingly never-ending Indian summer we got to enjoy. Come Halloween, temperatures in parts of the country were hitting 17.9 degrees.
In April, President Higgins paid a visit to the Queen and spent a few days hobnobbing with the Royal Family. The Irish national anthem was even played by the Sovereign Escort.
Back in May, Brown Bag Films, the largest animation company in Ireland, won three daytime Emmys and an additional five nominations for their take on classic childrens’ story Peter Rabbit.
In January the Irish Dancing Commission decided to take action against the ‘pageant style’ that had began to dominate Irish dancing by banning fake tan and fake eyelashes for the under-10s.
Back in May, the couple, who had experienced four miscarriages, had four children in one birth.
In October, the boots worn in the All-Ireland football final by Aidan O’Mahony sold at auction for €28,000. The boots had initially been given to 11-year-old Diarmuid De Bhillis, who has special needs.
His family later asked the footballer if they could raffle the boots for charity – to which he said yes - allowing them to raise money for the “Home from Home” after-school care facility that Diarmuid attends.
Lily-Mae, an Irish 5-year-old who had been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of cancer, was declared cancer-free. As part of a fundraising campaign for her, Lily-Mae’s parents released a cover of Elton John’s Tiny Dancer that hit No.2 in the Irish charts.
No matter what ups and downs Enda Kenny’s political career may take – there is one thing he is sure to be remembered for - dancing to Pharrell William’s ‘Happy’ with a bunch of teenagers at the Bloom Festival.
On October 14, John O’Shea struck in the final minute of extra time of Ireland’s European championship qualifier against Germany as we beat the world champion 1:1.
In 2012, the 18-year-old disability rights activist Joanne O’Riordan put it to United Nations to build her a robot to assist her in her everyday life. This year Professor Kevin Kelly and his team in the School of Engineering in Trinity built Joanne a robot.
Every year St Patrick’s Day rolls around and, for one day only, people around the world get to be a little bit Irish.
We all got a collective gift from NASA astronaut Douglas H. Wheelcock – who tweeted this picture from the International Space Station.
Also an Irishman in Tokyo decided to join in the Japanese capital’s festivities armed with nothing more than a hurl.
Consumer confidence is on the up. This year it hit its highest point since January 2007.
Back in May, two wedding rings that went missing in 2002 were returned to their owners after 12 years.
The rings showed up in the lost and found box of a car park in Wicklow.
Bradley Wiggins? Chris Froome? Alberto Contador? How about Dublin-based cycling enthusiast Maggie O’Dwyer – pictured here battling in the peloton of the Giro d’Italia, which came to visit in the summer.
There has been a big boost in visitor numbers in Dublin Zoo this year. In October, the zoo welcomed their 1 millionth visitor.
Increased visitor numbers are thought to be down to new arrivals at the zoo – which this year include two Asian lion cubs, a Rothschild giraffe calf, a Goeldi’s monkey and Meerkat pups.
We all just bloody loved Ed Sheeran after he surprised Aimee. In fact, the entire Toy Show.
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