What were the most-read stories on irishtimes.com in 2024?
Crime, emigration, a busy political calendar and the year of the live blog
Top Stories of the Year
A selection of some of the best reads and popular articles from the year
Customer fury as Dublin windows company shuts with thousands in deposits
DK Windows was promoting Black Friday sales just a week before it went out of business
Three babies committed speeding offences, Garda system shows
More than 2,200 records for children below age of criminal responsibility include 587 for those under three
‘A true Irish superstar’: Showband singer Dickie Rock dies, aged 88
President among those offering tributes to former Miami Showband member, who represented Ireland at 1966 Eurovision
Area 14: Dublin Airport’s ghost underground station
Terminal 1′s under-utilised basement has double-height ceilings for a specific reason
The thought of Conor McGregor draped in an Irish flag on a global stage is shameful
To think of all that time we spent embarrassed by Bono’s oppressive sincerity
The Cure’s Robert Smith: ‘I wear lipstick, I’m 65. I’m not the person to stand up to say what’s wrong with the world’
The Cure’s Robert Smith interview: With his band’s first new album in 16 years just released, post-punk’s dark prince discusses enduring on his own terms and clashing with the most powerful company in live music
Goodbye to the 46A: End of legendary Dublin bus route made famous in song
The bus memorialised by Bagatelle, which runs from Phoenix Park to Dún Laoghaire, is a cross-section of the city, geographically and socially. It will soon be replaced by a 24-hour service
‘I know what happened in that room’: the full story of the Conor McGregor case
Conor McGregor case: In his charge to the jury, Mr Justice Alexander Owens said the case for damages against the mixed martial arts fighter boiled down to who they believed
I went to the cinema to see Small Things Like These. By the time I emerged I had concluded the film was crap
The fact is the film was beautiful, earnest, poetic and sublime. But that’s not what I saw in the moment
Beirut letter: Over the past two months, I have had an education in how fragile the human body is
Sally Hayden: How many innocent people must be killed or have their lives destroyed in Israel’s pursuit of `military targets’?
US election results: Kamala Harris concedes after Donald Trump elected 47th US president
Democrat says result must be accepted as Republican claims ‘magnificent victory’
‘We are highly embarrassed’: creator of Pakistan website behind non-existent Dublin Halloween parade says it was a mistake
Nazir Ali of myspirithalloween.com said it is ‘very wrong’ to suggest search-focused site posted information as a hoax
We’re meant to bask in Saoirse Ronan’s feminist triumph, but I find it all a bit nauseating
An actor’s entire job is to occupy the mind and body of someone else, not to be interesting themselves
‘There are times I regret having kids. They’re adults, and it’s now that I’m regretting it, which seems strange’
Parenting Taboos: Regretting parenthood, or wishing you hadn’t had some of your children, is a deeply guarded secret for some parents
Irish couple’s €6,500 dream holiday ruined after Emirates staff spot this minor blemish on passport
Emirates declined to issue boarding passes to couple on €6.5k trip due to what reader says is a ‘minor imperfection’
The Dublin couple who built their house in a week
‘We’re in the middle of the city but ... we wanted something dramatic, lots of room height and a conceptual design from the inside out’
Cillian Murphy: ‘You had the Kerry babies, the moving statues, no abortion, no divorce. It was like the dark ages’
The Oscar winner reunites with Eileen Walsh, his Disco Pigs co-star, for Small Things Like These. For young Irish abroad, was its Ireland worth returning to?
The trials of Stephen Roche: ‘There are things I’ve done the last few years I’m not proud of’
The Irish former world champion cyclist has lost his holiday business, his villa in the south of France, pension, investments and many of his closest associates. Does he have any regrets?
‘We moved in with each other after seven days. We got engaged after eight months’
Kilkenny is now home to Nicole Server, from the Philippines, and Bart Pawlukojc, from Poland
I am Irish and live in Israel. The war we see on TV is not the one you see
Like all parents of Israeli children, I fear for their safety in Israel. But I also now fear for their safety abroad
Joe Canning: ‘The drinking shouldn’t have happened ... but to then run the crap out of us was madness’
Galway hurler Joe Canning writes about the ‘off-the-wall intensity’ of Ger Loughnane’s training regime, how the game takes players to the rawest of places and the infamous story of the Dew Drop 15 in this extract from his new book
Phillip Schofield: Cast Away – cancelled presenter’s self-absorption on desert island is exhausting
Television: Former ITV frontman clearly feels betrayed but viewers will need to decide whether sympathy is merited or not
Instagram star Garron Noone: ‘I’ve been broke most of my life. I’ve cleaned up people’s puke for money. Success is a transient thing’
The TikTok and Instagram star, who is hosting a new podcast, has grown used to attention from strangers. Not all of it is welcome
‘She’s a wonderful, intelligent, kind, human, gorgeous girl, who fancies girls – that’s it’
Parents of LGBTQ+ children share their experiences of them coming out, while a psychotherapist offers advice on how to provide support
‘We have six cars, one for each of the kids and one for the dog, who has nerve issues’
Wild Geese: Jonathan O’Connor lives in Atlanta, Georgia
‘I’m trying to build a social life, but how can I when my parents call to see me all the time?’
Tell Me About It: I have a great relationship with my parents, but I feel stifled by their constant attention. How can I set boundaries so my life can really blossom, without hurting their feelings?
‘This is a very posh prison’: Living in a nursing home since the age of 46
Anne O’Connell is one of more than 1,300 people aged under 65 who were described in the Ombudsman’s Wasted Lives report as living inappropriately in a nursing home
Foxy Lounge review: No amount of gold can redeem this one-star Donnybrook debacle
It may be Italian-inspired but Tuscan grandmothers would be crying into their floury aprons
A family bought a flat so their student son could have a place to stay – six years on, he’s still there
Gift and inheritance tax is self-assessed but choosing to ignore rent-free accommodation could come back to bite you
If you laughed at the one about the Leinster House bike shelter, you’ll love the one about the loo rolls
Sometimes, when a problem is complex and protracted, a simple example of hubristic extravagance can become the emblem of all that is wrong
If warnings about Atlantic ocean circulation are correct, Irish people could become climate migrants
New studies say a dramatic drop in temperatures here could happen a lot sooner than previously feared
‘I love Ireland. Ireland is 100% different to back home. It’s peace, calm’
Qareeb Urrahman came to Ireland from Afghanistan in 2021
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