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IF THERE’S ONE thing you can say about TheJournal.ie readers, it’s that you’re a diverse bunch when it comes to what you like reading about.
The most read stories on the site this year covered a broad range of issues. The majority of the 10 most popular pieces were breaking news stories, but there’s also an opinion piece about suicide, a story about a Russian flashmob, and not one but two articles about the local and European elections in May.
Here’s the list in full:
1. Who is your new local councillor? Here’s a list of everyone elected (8 June)
Views: 544,221
What was it about? The votes were cast, the ballots were counted and these were the results: 949 councillors were elected to Ireland’s city and county councils and this was a comprehensive list of who got in where.
2. 15-year-old Sait Canbullu found safe and well in Sligo (14 September)
Views: 237,201
What was it about: A 15-year-old boy who went missing from Wexford town was found in Sligo the following day. Initial reports from gardaí had suggested that the teenager was bundled into a car by two men wearing balaclavas but this later proved to be untrue.
3. Russian thugs beat up St Patrick’s flashmob after mistaking it for gay activists (24 March)
Views: 228,677
What was it about: A group of men in Siberia beat up people taking part in a belated St Patrick’s Day flashmob after they mistook the participants for gay activists.
4. Child rescue alert cancelled as two-year-old Hassan Khan found safe and well (10 August)
Views: 211,803
What was it about: Gardaí cancelled a national alert for 2-year-old Hassan Khan and his father after both were found safe and well. However the story had a tragic end in October when Hassan was found dead. His mother Hazel Waters has been charged with his murder.
5. Column: ‘He was given a clean bill of health, walked out of the hospital and took his own life’ (28 April)
Views: 194,208
What was it about: After the death of 20-year-old Glen Murphy McNally, his cousin Conor gave this moving speech at his funeral asking why more wasn’t done to help him.
6. Man who spent over four hours on six-storey Dame Street building taken away safely (1 July)
Views: 189,511
What was it about: A large-scale emergency services response was dispatched and parts of Dublin were closed down as a man spent more than four hours perched on top of a six-storey building in Dublin city centre. It ended when the man was taken away safely by gardaí.
7. Ebola ruled out for patient in Dublin hospital (15 August)
Views: 181,374
What was it about: The HSE ruled out Ebola after patient presented with flu-like symptoms in Dublin, saying there had been no official suspected cases of the virus in Ireland.
8. As it happened: Local election results 2014 Saturday (25 May)
Views: 180,022
What was it about: The liveblog began at 9.23am and ended at 4.37am the following day – almost 20 hours later – as Ireland went to the polls to elect city and county councillors.
9. Third body found in north Cork after twin brothers (9) found dead (4 September)
Views: 178,661
What was it about: The horrific story was the first report about Tom and Paddy O’Driscoll, the 9-year-old twin brothers who were killed by their older brother Jonathan before he took his own life.
10. John Gilligan shot during christening celebrations in Clondalkin (1 March)
Views: 174,299
What was it about: Convicted criminal John Gilligan was shot three times in the leg and chest as he attended a family party after a christening.
And just for completion, here’s the rest of the top 20:
11. Peaches Geldof has died age 25 (171,275 views)
12. ‘I was just 27 and I was butchered’: Symphysiotomy survivors in their own words (170,025 views)
13. Buying a house? Here’s what you need to be earning under the new rules (166,390 views)
14. Robin Williams found dead at his home in suspected suicide (165,333 views)
15. The most economically depressed town in Ireland is... (163,980 views)
16. All FIVE Garth Brooks concerts have been cancelled (161,375 views)
17. Irish students who left destroyed apartment are shamed by the news in San Francisco (159,033 views)
18. Hundreds of women held a silent vigil at Coolock Garda Station tonight (156,449 views)
19. Malaysian passenger plane shot down by surface-to-air missile over Ukraine (153,673 views)
20. Battered: Your pictures of how the storm took its toll (146,083 views)
All figures correct at the time of being compiled
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Christ that was difficult to read, the journalistic equivalent of constipation. Took about 5 solid pushes to get to the end of a load of shite which recommends basically giving up your potentially lucrative position in finance or IT to take up a role of fitness instructor.
7. Retire early
Moving job beats taking the easy way out and emigrating.
What’s wrong with being a fitness instructor?
@ mr McShite..’to give up a lucrative appointment ‘ I fear you missed the whole point of the article…and I wish you all the lucrative success you deserve (with $uck all happiness ) ….M@ron!!!
What’s really gonna happen is that your dreams are challenged very early in life, aspirations to change the world are wiped out as society is gonna try and convince you that you’re only too lucky to have a job so you’re gonna bullsh@t your way into an organisation, tell them you can turn things to gold and lose yourself in the process! Once your in the door your gonna be one of two people – one that stomps on people’s heads to get to the top of that ladder and would throw their mother under a bus to get advancement and live out your days constantly striving for that carrot, convincing yourself (and others) that you’ve made it. or 2 – be the guy who’s a stepping stone for number 1. you’ll retire at 60 ( if you aren’t canned before that) and live out your golden years in silent regret as to why you didn’t change careers sooner! Don’t let youth be wasted on the young. Follow your dreams kids. If Paul Murphy can be TD, you can be an astronaut!!!
Paul Murphy is an Astronaut Or a spacecadet?
Paul Murphy is a better td than most. At least he stands for something which can’t be said for many others who just roll over.
I think that parents have a duty to encourage their children to follow their dreams. Admittedly, some children are more focussed than others, but i believe everyone can find their passion in life if they believe they have the freedom and support to seek it. Parents are best usually placed to give this.
A friend of mine’s father was a man of science and industry, studying maths and physics and later entering the oil industry. My friend decided to follow his dream and get into film. Admittedly, his family were in a position to support him financially through film school, but they also supported him emotionally. I know that his father often questioned the career choice, but the look on his face seeing his son addressing the audience after the premiere screening of his debut feature film in the London Film Festival spoke volumes. Pure pride.
Hmmm… I followed some of these steps… I wanted to be a make up artist so I trained and gif qualified, I got a mentor and did a lot of free work. But in the end I just want good enough. I know I’m not supposed to say that but it’s true. I’m not naturally artistic. I’m creative to a certain extent but I can’t draw a straight line so what I imagine in my head turns out a big mess . Now the training and work experience and practice were great and I loved the work I did with a passion but in an industry flooded with other make up artists and feck all work I had to look at it realistically. There is better artists out there . They have natural gifts and talents and I just can’t compete with my mediocre skills. Some might say I just gave up but I think I’m just looking at it realistically. So now I’m 33 and don’t know what to do ‘when I grow up’.
Become a writer. You have a flowing style and nice, self-deprecating wit. And apparently every 1000 words is equivalent to a picture anyway so you can live your dream through the back door :-)
That hallway could do with a lightbulb.
The girl in the pic has a strange cock.tus
How does one become a lazy gigolo?
Vote FG.
Do nothing and you’ll get screwed.
hhmm yeah no! out of all the people i know 1 dows that they love… 1! I know another whos killing themselves to break into what they love and are failing! Frankly i think the emphasis on career etc is too much… I think people should work whatever theu can and aim to be happier in life in general and focus on being good ppl. Articles like this fuel the world we live in now… ppl in a rush to they skip lunch, or cause crashes rushing to work, spend their lives in their office. I work, i stay where I am not because I love it, not because Im passionate about it… i stay because 1 i work with good ppl, 2 its money and 3 I get a good amount of time off to focus on the important things. A job is a job if you can do what you love brilliant Im happy for you… but dont waste your life chasing it… get a job to give you money and start living out of work.
“In the words of Wayne Gretzky, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” – Rockfrocks, 2015
* not plagiarism
Utter utter rubbish…sadly people pay to hear the kind of rubbish that’s in that article. ….I’m passionate about Salsa dancing….trust me I’ll never earn money at it…..In fact I’m spending alot of my hard earned money on it…..such utter mis guided claptrap.
have to agree. keep your passion and your work separate, lest disappointments in work impact on your happiness. I’ve seen that alot. that doesn’t mean don’t enjoy your job but don’t hang your happiness it.
Just ask Alan Watts – https://youtu.be/5QnZVZzosw8 – What if money didn’t exist. Makes you really think.
Wrong question Alan. This is “what if money were no object?” ie you have sufficient surplus to do what you want. The last serious attempt at making money not exist was led by Pol Pot in Cambodia in the 1970s. That did not have a happy ending (gross understatement).
Making money DOES MATTER….
6. Make sure to get to Electric Picnic!!!
Turning a passion into a career can still have the same effect. You still will have to do work you don’t necessarily want to do in order for income to pay the bills
have your say