Good week
Barack Obama
On Wednesday, the US president was named as Time magazine’s person of the year, for the second time. Earlier in the week he delivered a speech in Newtown, Connecticut, indicating he was finally willing to lead on gun control.
Clare Daly
The left-wing TD was in the limelight over data she and three other TDs obtained on drivers who had penalty points quashed.
Katie Taylor
The Olympic champion claimed her third Sportswoman of the Year award, and saw tickets for her first home fight sell out in minutes.
Bad week
James Reilly
Sinn Féin again raised questions about the level of the Minister for Health’s involvement in the selection of the locations for primary care centres. He was also named politician of the year “for all the wrong reasons” in the Tonight with Vincent Browne political awards.
Fidelma Healy Eames
The Fine Gael Senator, and reliable controversy magnet, was found guilty of driving without car tax and fined €1,850 at Galway District Court on Wednesday.
You know your new privacy policy is a bad idea when the negative reaction becomes a story on the likes of RTÉ News and Newsnight, as Instagram discovered this week. The picture-sharing social network, owned by Facebook, reversed some of its controversial changes.