What were the most-read stories on irishtimes.com in 2024?

You know what? I’ll go as far as declaring 2024 the year of the live blog.

In the jumble of stories making up the most-read lists on irishtimes.com in 2024, live online coverage of rolling stories makes up a significant proportion of the material. Four of the top 10, for instance, are live stories, spanning some of the big ticket political items you might expect (we’ll get into that), not to mention Clare’s one-point triumph over Cork at Croke Park to claim the county’s first hurling All-Ireland title since 2013.

The second most-read story overall concerns November’s general election, and it’s also a live blog. Despite coming late in the year, Election 2024 has predictably stamped itself all over the most-read tables, with the first day of counting and summation of the day’s “winners and losers” attracting the most reader attention.

A little further down, another political live story from earlier in the year rounds off the top 10. Given how lively the political diary has been in the past 12 months, you’d be forgiven for forgetting we had a referendum in March: As it happened: Ireland votes No on family and care referendums.

I bought into the idea that wellness guru Andrew Huberman could fix my life. Then I read about him

Almost 28 years on, Michelle Smith de Bruin’s Olympic splash continues to make waves

‘This is a very posh prison’: Living in a nursing home since the age of 46

The very top read story on the site, however, was perhaps less predictable. As with many stories that engage people the most, it was a personal story nestled at the core of a much broader issue - in this case, the use of lotteries to allocate places on high-demand university courses. Minister for Education Norma Foley’s decision to adjust Leaving Cert grades to come in line with those awarded in 2023 meant another year of bumper marks - and with it, higher demand on some top programmes. Practically, the move meant that even if a student achieved perfect marks, they weren’t guaranteed a place on their preferred course. The story of one such student, from Co Wexford, became the most-read story on the website in 2024: ‘She couldn’t have done better’: Leaving Cert student with maximum points misses out on college course due to lottery.

Further down the overall list, stories of crime, personal tragedies, emigration, the deaths of prominent individuals and politics sit alongside the normal mix of columns, pop culture, sport and travel. Below is a list of the year’s top 25 stories by pageviews. Below this is a runthrough of the top stories from some of our main subsections.

TOP 25 MOST-READ STORIES

NEWS

As it topped the most-read overall list, the story of the Leaving Cert student missing out on her top choice for a university course due to the lottery system was also the most-read news story of the year.

A series of profound tragedies underscored the most-read list in News. Nicole Morey’s death in June prompted a local outpouring of grief after the 23-year-old was attacked by her dog at her Co Limerick home. Elsewhere, communities were left in states of shock and sadness following fatal car crashes in Mayo and Carlow. In July, the nation also mourned the loss of a “beautiful, spirited” 11-year-old girl after she fell to her death from a balcony in Majorca.

Elections aside, other prominent stories this year included the landmark Stardust inquests, the civil action taken by Nikita Hand against MMA fighter Conor McGregor, and a series of damaging storms - from Isha in January to Darragh in December. Ireland also said goodbye to a number of prominent figures, including Edna O’Brien, Dickie Rock, Charlie Bird, Jon Kenny and Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh.

In a US election year, one or two stories were likely to appear in most-read lists outside World, where the vast majority of stories related to foreign campaigns and elections reside. This year, a piece of genealogical research carried out by Northern Irish historian Stephen McCracken revealed that Kamala Harris was the descendent of an Irish slave owner in Jamaica.

TOP 10 MOST-READ IN NEWS

WORLD

From fraught political landscapes, to natural disasters and deepening conflicts in the Middle East, the top-read stories in the World section recall a year of increasing global tensions. The return of Donald Trump to the White House amid a bitter campaign - and assassination attempts - was a topic that engaged readers more than any other. The very top story in World this year reported the attempt on the now-president’s life as he spoke at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July. As with other sections, live blogs make an appearance: the second most-read story was our live coverage of the US presidential election.

Elsewhere, deadly flash floods in Spain and a huge earthquake at the dawn of the year in Japan were among the natural disasters to dominate headlines at the time. While the US election commanded most of our readers’ attention when it came to international political movement, closer to home the landslide victory of Keir Starmer’s Labour Party in the UK’s July election was a key moment in the international news year.

TOP 10 MOST-READ IN WORLD

POLITICS

Not many shockers here. In a year when we had local and European elections, a referendum and a general election to round it all off, there were plenty of key moments throughout the year bound to draw in the politicos.

We’ve been through the top story already - it was the live coverage of the first day of the general election count. The next four pieces by pageviews, interestingly, are all local and european elections. In fact, we don’t see a return of the general election as a topic until the seventh spot, headlined by the electoral demise of a Cabinet Minister, namely Stephen Donnelly.

Among the jumble of live result packages, counts and exit polls are a couple of standalone stories that mark significant political moments during the year. Simon Harris’s encounter with a disability worker at a Kanturk supermarket became a small flashpoint in what was a relatively brief election campaign. His reaction in a viral clip of the encounter was roundly branded as dismissive, and he later called the woman to apologise - though she said she was left “shaken” after the back-and-forth, during which she accused the Government of not doing enough for the disability sector. The story was the 14th most-read in Politics in 2024.

A little further down the list, we arrive at an outpouring of tributes led by the President for former Irish Times political correspondent Michael O’Regan, who died in February.

TOP 10 MOST-READ IN POLITICS

OPINION

Housing, online gurus, viral moments, Ireland’s lousy summer and the Burkes. The topics spanning the most-read list in Opinion this year are as varied as ever, but topping the bunch is a piece written by former Green Party leader and outgoing Minister for the Environment, Climate, Communications and Transport, Eamon Ryan.

Published in September, the Minister argued that if warnings about Atlantic Ocean circulation are correct, Irish people could become climate migrants themselves: “I think most of us thought we wouldn’t have to face some of the hardships that other hotter places might have to endure. If these new studies are correct, we could be in the worst of all worlds. We would lose our benign growing and living conditions. Rather than thinking how we manage climate refugees from the south, we might want to move south ourselves, out of the freezing cold.”

TOP 10 MOST-READ IN OPINION

SPORT

The live blog won the day in Politics, and the trend was evident in the Sport list, too. Live blogs are built for match coverage, and it’s no surprise the format was popular again in Sport this year. The top story in the section, you’ve probably guessed from the discussion at the top of this piece, was the live coverage of Clare’s All-Ireland hurling triumph. But of the top 10 stories, four were live blogs, which tells you all you need to know. More notable is the complete absence in the top 10 of any rugby - all four of those popular live events were GAA.

The second most-read story, however, was a little more nuts-and-bolts. Trailing Clare’s victory by just a few thousand sets of eyeballs was our day-by-day guide to Irish athletes competing at the Olympics. After that, Ian O’Riordan’s interview with Irish cycling great Stephen Roche made a splash when it was published in October, finishing in the third spot overall.

TOP 10 MOST-READ IN SPORT

LIFE & STYLE

Movement appears to be the main theme cutting across the most-read articles in Life & Style this year, whether it be the stories of new arrivals to Ireland in the New to the Parish column, personal pieces from those departing Ireland for new lives, or even discussions about Ireland’s tourism and whether visitors really consider it a rip-off.

One topic that seems to pop up here and there across the patchwork of themes spanning these lists is quiet quitting - which has had something of a moment over the past couple of years as workplaces and employee preferences continue to change in the post-Covid world. Quiet quitting - basically the idea that an employee should do only the duties they’re paid for and not strive to go “above and beyond” - was a theme that appeared on multiple sections of the site this year, including Business, Life & Style, and the Letters page.

This piece by Brianna Parkins in May (Quiet quitting: Why should an employee doing the job they are paid to do and then going home be a problem?), was the 14th most read story in the Life & Style section. Brianna’s name pops up elsewhere in the list, most prominently in the number 2 spot with another increasingly familiar type of headline: I’m leaving Ireland. I don’t have the energy for life here.

The number one spot this year was from another regular columnist. Michael Harding wasn’t quite in the frame of mind to appreciate his viewing of Small Things Like These following some mishaps at the concession stand beforehand (they were out of ice cream, to be fair). His piece about his experience, and exploration of the power of small frustrations on a person’s rationality, was the most popular article among readers of this section: “It’s not that I am addicted to ice-cream. It’s not that sitting up close to the screen was going to damage my eyesight. It’s just that small things can become big things. A pea in the shoe can turn a princess into a monster.”

TOP 10 MOST-READ IN LIFE & STYLE

BUSINESS AND YOUR MONEY

There is no shortage of consumer angst dotted through the table of these most-read stories. Even a quick glance reveals tales of drained bank accounts and ruined dream holidays. Chief among the stories on this theme is the second most-read piece in the Business section in 2024. Back in January, an article by Conor Pope in his Pricewatch column detailed an ordeal one couple went through as they realised their wedding savings had drained from their Revolut account overnight.

Their futile attempts to communicate with the fintech group - or even speak with anybody on the phone - make for frustrating reading. In the end, the couple were out thousands of euro and told that under the T&Cs they were not entitled to get it back. Revolut did offer a one-time good will payment of €150 - unsurprisingly, the couple didn’t want it.

The top-read item in the Business section, however, was centred on the budget, which is always a significant set piece on the Business calendar. This year, the was our main points round-up, covering the very essential aspects a reader needed to know at a glance, from welfare payments, to energy credits, to all things tax.

TOP 10 MOST-READ IN BUSINESS AND YOUR MONEY

CULTURE

Comprising events, arts, and all manner of interviews and reviews, Culture is a section with quite a varied top-read list, though it’s hard to ignore the enduring pull of Electric Picnic, Eurovision and Cillian Murphy as you travel down the spreadsheet. Cillian, of course, had a great year. The Cork actor’s Best Actor Oscar for his starring role in Christopher Nolan’s epic atomic drama Oppenheimer (2023) - as covered in, you guessed it, an Oscars live blog - was a key moment for our readers, finishing just outside the top 20. At other points in the year, a couple of interviews with Murphy also had strong readerships (here and here). Bambie Thug represented Ireland at the Eurovision and would up placing sixth - and readers caught it all via our Eurovision live blog (also, as it happens, it was sixth most-read piece in Culture).

Electric Picnic coverage was on the charts, too, though for less glamorous reasons. The fourth most-read concerned festivalgoers’ disappointment as they were directed to overflow campsites after arriving at Stradbally on Friday.

The top read in this section was something slightly different. Philip Schofield, the former This Morning host who was “cancelled” after details emerged about a relationship with a colleague 30 years his junior, appeared on survival programme Cast Away. The former TV host, over 10 days spent solo on an island off Madagascar, intended to use the time to discuss his fall from the top, and tell his side of the story. Ed Power, in his review, says while it will be up to viewers to decide if Schofield deserves sympathy, “over 45 minutes, Schofield’s self-absorption is exhausting and makes for wearying entertainment.”

TOP 10 MOST-READ IN CULTURE

HEALTH

Advice columns are popular, and it’s not hard to figure out why. Often some of our most-read pieces across the site on the day of publication are from the Health section. It’s not just “advice”; family health, relationships, parenting and wellness are all wrapped into this category. What they all typically have in common are compelling personal stories, candidly told and expertly responded to. While readers may not have the identical problem portrayed in the article, there’s often sound, practical nuggets of advice to be derived in these pages.

The top read story in the section dealt with an issue affecting Irish people of all generations. Just this year, calls were renewed to appoint a minister with a sole function of combating loneliness, as official figures indicated Ireland was “the loneliest place in Europe”. Twenty per cent of Irish people reported feeling lonely most or all of the time. The EU average is 13 per cent.

One reader’s query for Trish Murphy’s Tell Me About It column typified the isolation felt by many, and its heartbreaking first paragraph perhaps best sums up what the writer was feeling: “I am in my late 30s, I am single and I have struggled to make and keep friends. More specifically, I struggle to nurture any meaningful long-lasting relationships with either men or women. As I have aged, I have found my loneliness to have become even more profound. The prospect of filling the void in my life feels like it’s diminishing more and more as the years go by.”

TOP 10 MOST-READ IN HEALTH

FOOD

Restaurant reviews are routinely among the most popular pieces on the site every Thursday, and the crop of top Food articles this year reflects that. Scanning the list also reveals the challenges faced by the hospitality industry as an increasing number of restaurateurs and other business owners gave up the fight against economic headwinds.

The top story in the section, however, was a very rare one-star review from our food critic, Corinna Hardrgave. Foxy Lounge in Donnybrook was the unfortunate eatery, a relatively new Italian spot “wedged between a Circle K garage and The Defenders 4x4 dealership on a side road in Donnybrook”. Needless to say, despite her sympathy for any restaurant opening its doors these days, Hardgrave wasn’t convinced by the dishes, regardless of how much gold adorned the table: “Tuscan grandmothers would be sobbing into their floury aprons.” Ouch.

Not far behind that - there were only a couple thousand readers in the difference - was a piece by Restaurateur Gráinne O’Keefe, detailing the transformative effect she discovered after cutting sugar from her diet.

TOP 10 MOST-READ IN FOOD

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What were the most-read stories on irishtimes.com in 2024?

Crime, emigration, a busy political calendar and the year of the live blog