It was an extremely busy political year. We saw huge progress in the North, millions of pounds extra poured into the state coffers and the launch of the National Development Plan, which will shape the growth of the country until 2007.
But with the Government more than half way through its term of office, all the political parties will in the next year be quietly gearing up for the next general election.
So what should the parties be doing in the coming months to maximise support?
Fianna Fail
Unprecedented economic wellbeing and peace in the North and the only question the main party in Government can ask themselves going into the new year is: "Where has it all gone wrong?"
Fianna Fail's back-benchers have become more vocal than their Ministerial colleagues with the Taoiseach's softly, softly approach to politics and his willingness to please all coming under scrutiny.
From refugees to stay-at-home wives, the party is finding it difficult at the moment to stick together and present a united front.
The recent MRBI poll showed slipping support for the Government and Fianna Fail and one wonders can the dizzy heights of the Belfast Agreement and afterward ever be achieved again.
So what about new year's resolutions? In Government, and with plenty of money still coming into the Exchequer, the party has the chance to please a lot of people in a lot of areas of Irish life over the next couple of years.
Fianna Fail will have to ensure that there are no more banana skins such as the controversial Budget provision favouring double income couples. If one lesson was learned from the Budget backlash it is this: more consultation with the social partners, Ministers and backbenchers is vital before announcing a major policy change in the future.
Fianna Fail must now forget about the concept of an overall majority altogether and do its best to keep on good terms with the Progressive Democrats so the small party has no choice but to form some alliance with it in the run-up to the next election.
As for the tribunals, Fianna Fail must hope and pray that the political fall-out is kept to a minimum. The worst is probably over.
A careful share-out of the millions of extra pounds that are around to benefit the lower paid and the marginalised should benefit Fianna Fail.
Fine Gael
The prospect of not being in Government after the next election is frightening Fine Gael, but things are not as bleak as they seem. If Labour do well, and the PDs manage to hold what they have, there could well be a new Rainbow after the next election.
Like the Labour Party, Fine Gael needs to be patient. It's tough being in Opposition when the country is doing so well but the Government has already shown it is capable of making the sort of mistakes that could make it pretty unpopular in the not too distant future.
Fine Gael should be encouraged by the Budget banana skin and should now be moving along with the Labour Party in sending out the message that it won't be so stupid as to alienate the woman in the home when it gets its hands on the levers of power.
The party should not expect massive gains at the next election, but mid-fifties or a little bit more will be enough if Labour, and the PDs hold their own.
John Bruton has not flourished as leader of the Opposition in the way he did when he was Taoiseach. But the party has proven it is quick to react when weaknesses are revealed in the Government side. Michael Noonan was one of the first to spot the budget faux pas and milked it for all it was worth.
Labour
With three by-election victories under its belt since going into Opposition in 1997, and encouraging opinion poll showings in recent times, the Labour Party has reason to look forward with optimism to the new year and the next general election.
But while putting it up to the Government will remain one of its key aims, it must sort out lingering hostilities between the former DL organisation and itself in key constituencies.
Labour's ambition to win two seats each in Dun Laoghaire and Dublin South-central at the next general election will very much depend on papering over the cracks that have been in evidence since the merger.
The party must also be careful about wandering too far in towards the crowded middle-ground of Irish politics. That could be an open invitation to parties like Sinn Fein and "protest" independent candidates to take up the slack on the left.
Ruairi Quinn has been doing all right without setting the world on fire. But he will know as he ponders 2000 and beyond that governments can self-destruct in the oddest of circumstances and he won't be too far away from the decision-making process when it comes to the formation of the next government.
For the year ahead, a mixture of more partnership on the ground and some patience in the national political battle-field, should put Labour in good stead.
Progressive Democrats
Ever since Michael McDowell became Attorney General the obituaries about the PDs have been put back in the filing cabinets.
It would be a huge boost for the party if he ran at the next general election, and with Mary Harney, Liz O'Donnell, and Bobby Molloy doing quite well in Government, who's to say the party won't return with four or more seats at the next election.
But it's not all straightforward. They cannot afford to be as invisible in Government as they were in the early days and they must try and stay out of the embrace of Fianna Fail in the run-up to the next general election.
For the year ahead, they need to put all their effort into a handful of constituencies where they stand a chance at the next election.
They must also be a bit more outspoken, taking a leaf out of Liz O'Donnell's book when she went on her solo run on refugees and the John Ellis affair.
For Mary Harney, the prize of being Tanaiste in two successive Governments should be enough to convince her of the need for a good, healthy PD identity in the year ahead.
Sinn Fein
Now that they're in government in Northern Ireland, who is to say that Sinn Fein won't use the year 2000 as the launching pad for a place in the next government to be formed in the Republic.
Their local election performance last June provided evidence that Sinn Fein is beginning to build strong bases in constituencies where they could well achieve Dail representation at the next general election.
Four or five seats could leave Sinn Fein holding the balance of power at the next election.
If all goes well on the IRA decommissioning front over the next few months, their move into democratic politics would be further consolidated and they could win over even more voters here who up to now have been too squeamish to consider supporting them.
They certainly could do damage to the new Labour party by presenting themselves as the "protest" party, a voice for the dispossessed and disadvantaged, and filling a gap once occupied by the Workers' Party and in more recent times, DL.
The forthcoming year is the time to develop a new, sanitised Sinn Fein, socialist and serious about its politics.
Its new-found status in Northern Ireland will certainly do the party no harm.
Miriam Donohoe can be contacted at mdonohoe@irish-times.ie