It won’t be over until the fat lady finally gets her jab but what a year we’ve had. Waiting for those vaccinations probably means the Covid year could last, in effect, for 18 months which should come as no surprise to anyone.
Speaking of surprises, the perennial winner, the lead budget article of the year, has been well and truly knocked of its perch in our annual top 10 list of most read business articles.
1. It's a bit out of left field but it certainly caught our readers' imagination. Maybe it was because of lockdown that it appealed but "I left my home, my boyfriend and my dog and upped sticks" clocked in at number one with a whopping 342,285 page views, dwarfing the aforementioned Budget 2020 lead article from the previous year which had garnered 190,596 views.
Part of our regular Wild Geese slot of Irish people creating successful new lives abroad, it was an interview with Kate Hoare who hails from Skibbereen in west Cork and has worked in Melbourne, New York and San Francisco. And yes, she has an American partner, but she never mentioned the dog again.
2. The rich are different and because of that, despite our best instincts, many of us find them fascinating to the extent that our second most read story of 2020 – "Who are Ireland's 17 billionaires?" – pulled in an impressive 293,136 page views. Essentially doing what it says on the tin and based on an Oxfam report, it revealed that Ireland has the fifth-largest number of billionaires per capita in the world.
The list had many familiar names such as Dunne, Desmond and O'Brien, recent arrivals such as the Collison brothers and, no surprise here, a Guinness. However, it was Penneys and Brown Thomas retail magnates, the Westons, who topped the list.
3. "Employers can pay staff tax free to cover cost of home working" came into its own as the realities of working from home started to dawn and people started looking at the cost implications. Harvesting a very healthy 262,829 page views, it detailed what those of us fortunate enough to be able to work from home can claim to defray expenses. Not a whole heap, as it turns out, only a portion of the cost of lighting, heat and broadband. Your employer could, if they so wished, pay you an allowance of €3.20 per day tax free but are under no obligation to do so.
4. Back in early March, Italy was deep in the throes of Covid-19 when it decided on a radical measure to help its citizens. "Coronavirus: Italy suspends mortgages and household bills" was the headline and the story told us that this was an unprecedented step and had, yes you guessed it, alarmed financial markets. Little did we know then.
Italian industry minister Stefano Patuanelli put it all into perspective when he said: "We will ask for the rules to be changed. It a necessary condition, otherwise people will die." The story pulled in 258,831 page views as coronavirus-related stories were, understandably, being read avidly.
5. At the time, on April 1st no less, it seemed a bit on the extreme side when Dalata chief Pat McCann's view prompted this headline: "Expect lockdown restrictions until September, says Dalata hotels chief". If only.
McCann painted a picture of a company battling to keep its head above water and how it had to lay off 2,500 staff. Here we are in December and the odds on another lockdown in January are shortening daily. He also predicted that 2022 would be the year that something akin to normality returns. Let’s hope he is not right on that one.
6. This story certainly put the frighteners on a lot of people when it was revealed that AIB had introduced wide-ranging restrictions on mortgage lending in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. Under the headline "AIB introduces 'frightening' mortgage rules and halts lending to Covid payment recipients" we found out, as if we didn't have enough to worry about, that the bank had introduced a de-facto ban on mortgage lending to those in receipt of State wage subsidies and extra scrutiny on applications from people working in "high risk" sectors of the economy. The bank later walked back its stance . . . a little
7. As working from home stopped being a temporary little arrangement and looked like it was fast becoming a longer-term feature of our lives, attention, naturally, turned to the future of the traditional office.
This story, "Google's withdrawal from Dublin office deal cast doubts on sector" seemed a harbinger of things to come as it pulled out of a deal that would have seen it renting space for 2,000 workers. It will take a while yet before we have a answer on this one.
8. Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has often gotten himself in trouble for speaking his mind; indeed it is part of what is perceived to be his USP. "Stalled progress suggests Varadkar was right in Claire Byrne interview" was the headline on Friday's Caveat column in November and dealt with Varadkar wondering aloud on RTÉ's Claire Byrne show a month earlier just what would we do if lockdown didn't work, and what was Plan B? The story added further grist to mill on what was the best way to deal with Covid-19.
9. The future of Bewley's on Grafton Street has been uncertain before but it always sparks interest. The story "Bewley's on Grafton Street to close permanently with loss of 110 jobs" was no exception as it told us that the famous cafe and its sticky buns were struggling with its rent of €1.5 million annually and the impact of coronavirus on its trading. Luckily, the crisis was averted and the cafe continues to cater for its loyal customers.
10. The age at which you get the State pension was the surprise element of the last election, catching politicians of all parties unawares. It seemed a cohort of people had just woken up to the fact that the pension age was set to rise to 67 for those born from 1955 onwards. Cue outrage on the doorsteps and furious backpedaling, with the result that is has been dialled back to 66 . . . pending a review anyway. "How long can Government afford to keep State pension age at 66?" was the headline on a piece which questioned the wisdom of that decision as the cost is only going one way. Expect this topic to run and run.
