Here we are, at the end of the first year of this little project. We have at times had some laughs. But it's also fair to say that there have been times this year when we have become more angry than we ever thought possible. 2010 was by no one's standards a good year. It saw both the destruction of Irish sovereignty and the death of Irish hopes. From the Brian's to the Chilean Miners, we highlight ten people who defined this year, for good or ill.
Heroes
5) The Rubberbandits
A late incluson into the list, these Limerick based jokers proved that there is in fact no level of satire at which there will not be a moral panic on Joe Duffy's Liveline. They are just now reaching the apex of their popularity, as their lament 'Horse Outside' is slated to be Ireland's Christmas Number One (Editors note: Sadly, that awful Matt Cardle thing won instead). Not to mention their biggest fan, this fine fellow:
The mustachioed former minister called them 'hilariously funny' and and that they filled him with 'great pride about the fact that two local lads, who are obviously very intelligent and very, very musically orientated and can be very, very funny, have the prospect of topping the charts at Christmas and beating the guy who won 'The X Factor'. An appearance on the Late Late Show, as well as a star turn explaining the intricacies of metaphor and satire to bewildered Liveline listeners, and Blindboy Boat Club and Mr.Chrome are on top of the world.
Well, Limerick anyway.
4) Julian Assange
This entry represents a startling 'chas timpeall' on the part of the People of this Country team. While Initially we felt that Mr.Assange and his Wikileaks were being reckless in their airing of various nations dirty laundry, and that people lives may be at risk, these fears turned out to be unfounded. Furthermore, the leaks implicated one Gerry Adams in the 2004 bank robbery. Now of course we all knew that the bold Gerry and his mate Martin were fully aware of this little caper, but it was extremely nice to see it all laid out in black and white. We tip our collective hats to you, Julian, even if you are in a spot of 'tribloid' with the law at the moment (or more accurately, with the CIA).
A late incluson into the list, these Limerick based jokers proved that there is in fact no level of satire at which there will not be a moral panic on Joe Duffy's Liveline. They are just now reaching the apex of their popularity, as their lament 'Horse Outside' is slated to be Ireland's Christmas Number One (Editors note: Sadly, that awful Matt Cardle thing won instead). Not to mention their biggest fan, this fine fellow:
The mustachioed former minister called them 'hilariously funny' and and that they filled him with 'great pride about the fact that two local lads, who are obviously very intelligent and very, very musically orientated and can be very, very funny, have the prospect of topping the charts at Christmas and beating the guy who won 'The X Factor'. An appearance on the Late Late Show, as well as a star turn explaining the intricacies of metaphor and satire to bewildered Liveline listeners, and Blindboy Boat Club and Mr.Chrome are on top of the world.
Well, Limerick anyway.
4) Julian Assange
3) The Chilean Miners
Since the days of 9/11 we have had the phenomenon known as the rolling news story. Whether it's a flood, an earthquake or a coup you can always turn on Sky News to find that there is a story 'breaking' for about three weeks or so. Not until this wonderful tale was there such thing as a positive rolling story. As each one was lifted to safety (and book deals) the collective world cheered. Now there's a government that works.
2) Angry People
From Pat Rabbitte to that fella in Canada. From cement mixers to cherry-pickers. From Liveline to the Frontline, the best People of this Country were those who just plain went mental. For a year of such awfulness, we saw precious little protest, and the only people who did protest were doing it out of their own self interest. The visceral anger was cathartic when it happened, and we need a lot more of it next year.
1) Mary Byrne
The top spot had to be reserved for Ballyfermot's favourite daughter. In a year with so much bleakness and awful tidings Mary provided a glimmer of hope. Just a glimmer. I myself have never watched the X Factor, but I was assured by my colleague J. Murtagh that Mary was quote 'absolutely amazing so she was and there were people saying that she wasn't a good singer and that she wasn't cut out for this but she proved them wrong and fair play to Louis I dont normally like him but sure he's better than that Simon Cowell and don't get me started on Cheryl Cole...'. It continues in that vein for some time. WE wanted people to vote for mary, and they did, and here she is. I award her the Official People of This Country Gold Medal of Heroism for the year 2010. Hats off to this wonderful 'callín'.
Villains
5) The Guys who Killed the Kangaroo
Disgusting. Utterly disgusting. This was during that period of this year that Irish news went completely off the rails. Suddenly it was impossible to tell the Metro Herald from the Onion as tales of Animal abuse and insanity ran rampant in the Irish psyche. None was more disgraceful that this case, in which a number of men killed a kangaroo by feeding it ecstasy and alcohol at a deranged 'party'. What more can be said about this group of reprobates that has not already been splashed across countless tabloids. Scum.
4) George Lee
Lest We Forget. It seems a long time ago now that little boy George decided that his big brother Enda wasn't letting him play with his toys, and walked the plank of the S.S. Fine Gael. Mixed metaphors aside, George Lee's journey from bust-predicting wonderboy to washed up never-been was both magnificently quick and painfully disillusioning. There will be no easy exits from this economic black pit we find ourselves in, and no Moses to bring us to any promised land. George's retreat to the safe haven of RTE proved that no matter how incompetent the current crop of politicians is, they are not about to be displaced by a weedy bespectacled interloper on holidays from his real job.
3) Everyone Except Mary Byrne on the X-Factor
Cher for getting voted ahead of Mary. Katie for being Katie. Matt for winning and still being shite. Rebecca for not winning when she should have. One Direction for their crude remarks to Matt. Simon for doubting Mary. Louis for calling everyone a star and not just Mary. The people for not voting for MARY.
2) Michael Lowry and Jackie Healy-Rae
Some fiddled while Rome burned. Others tried to sell their buckets of water for a few pieces of silver. While this country went farther and farther down the tubes all these two CLOWNS cared about was their potholes and their Shanghai-on-Shannon Casinos. There were many this year who disgraced the office of TD but perhaps none more so than this pair of rural chancers who thought to prostitute their votes to the highest bidder. People of Kerry South, I implore you, when the little mini-me version of Jackie goes up this spring, send him and his flat cap back where they came from.
1) The Brians
Lenihan and Cowen. Not since Laurel and Hardy have a couple made such an unholy bags of a job they were handed. What can you really say about Brian and Brian Eile? At the beginning of this year, things were bad. Now, things are far worse. In between there was the Magnificent Growing Bailout, The Eternal Corner Turn and of course, the country was pawned a few weeks ago. These two messers will go down as the worst partnership in the country's history, and even now they cling to power like the political barnacles that they are. Out out out the country cries, but still we are stuck in a bizarre interregnum, in which a government with support in single digits still holds sway. A spring election will deliver its verdict, but until then, we must wait.
(J.Murtagh provided additional coverage)
