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It is the day of the kinglet, when groups dressed in various clothes and with masks or straw suits roam the roads in search of the kinglet. Only this year it is not uncommon to see people with masks and strange clothes. After a year like no other before, here are the winners and losers of the year.
Taoiseach of the year
Leo Varadkar: It was very successful in the general election, but regained its charm in the Covid-19 crisis. He proceeded to pretend that he was still Taoiseach, until arrogance surprised him.
Micheál Martin: He finally got the position he has longed for for a decade, even if it’s only for a couple of years after agreeing to a rotation and assuming his party isn’t hounding him in the meantime.
Tony Holohan: The most powerful man in the country could approve or reject a lockdown and even when he was slapped in the face by the current government, he always knew that he would eventually be right.
Winner: Micheál Martin, as he may not be eligible next year.
Election Artist of the Year
Mary Lou McDonald: The Sinn Féin leader was heading into 2020 after some really bad local and European elections and a bad election in Westminster. Another poor performance would have only intensified speculation about whether he could cut him off with the Belfast brigade.
Mary Lou McDonald: With a dramatic turnaround in the second week of the election campaign, the Sinn Féin leader emerged in an unlikely leadership position and won the most votes and obtained the most seats.
Mary Lou McDonald: The Sinn Féin leader took her 38 seats, less than half of Dáil’s majority, and hinted that her party had some divine right to power, ignoring the realities of Dáil’s arithmetic.
Winner: Mary Lou McDonald, while cleaning the floor with all the assistants.
Rookie of the year
Claire Kerrane: It represented the rise of Sinn Féin with a dramatic victory at the expense of Fianna Fáil, in particular, and Fine Gael as well. In your social welfare spokesperson report, you show Pearse Doherty that you don’t have to scream all the time to be an effective leader.
Norma Foley: A year ago, Fianna Fáil TD was teaching at Presentation High School in Tralee, now she is Minister of Education after finally making the breakthrough. Got schools reopened and dealt with the big Leaving Cert headache.
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: Maria Bailey’s fall from a swing caused Ms. Carroll MacNeill climbing onto the Fine Gael ticket, where he then exited ahead of Acting Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor. By far the most polished of Fine Gael’s new batch of TDs, she has overshadowed many of her party ministers.
Winner: Norma Foley as she focuses on getting the job done.
Survivor of the year
Simon Harris: He caused the general elections with his incompetence as Minister of Health, then revived during the Covid-19 crisis. When many more incompetent ministers fell, he clung to a new portfolio where no one really knows what he’s doing.
Wayne McCarthy: The government-appointed member of a state board, Greyhound Racing Ireland, who called out a democratically elected TD, Holly Cairns of the Social Democrats, “an ignorant girl,” is surprisingly still on the spot.
Séamus Woulfe: The attorney general-turned-Supreme Court judge got his place on the bench and will not give up, through thick and thin. He defended himself against his peers, pushed Chief Justice Frank Clarke back, and faced murmurs of accusation.
Winner: Simon Harris, proving that you can get away with being great on social media.
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CC SIMON HARRIS … 09/24/2020 The Minister of Continuing and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD during a preliminary meeting of COVID 19 – Announcement of the project to support the financing of research, development and innovation led by SFI at the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland on York Street, Dublin Photo: Gareth Chaney / Collins
Green flaky time of year
Eamon Ryan: The leader of the Greens won a record 12 seats in the general election, then took office, but is remembered for falling asleep in the temporary Dáil Chamber.
Joe O’Brien and Neasa Hourigan: He managed to abstain and vote against the government, respectively, on tenant rights legislation which they said didn’t go far enough, with little or no consequence.
The bases: After overwhelmingly supporting the rise to government, party members recalled that they had campaigned on issues such as the Canada-EU trade deal.
Winner: Eamon Ryan, as he catches up on his dream.
Kildare Garda Síochána checkpoint of the year
COVID-19: The largest traffic jam in the country occurs whenever there is a Covid-19 inter-county travel checkpoint on the Naas Expressway with an all-powerful queue back to the capital, making drivers think twice. before leaving.
Mobile phones: European Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan was arrested by Gardaí in Kildare for using his phone while driving to the Oireachtas Golf Society event in Galway. When the incident became public, it added to the controversy that turned Hogan over.
Drink while driving: Although four years ago, at a drunk driving checkpoint near the Offaly border, Barry Cowen was banned from driving for three months for exceeding the limit while holding a provisional license. Ultimately, the ban resulted in his dismissal as agriculture minister.
Winner: Kildare gardaí, not to be messed with.
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