I think everyone is pretty glad to see the back of 2016.

This was the year when we lost David Bowie, Alan Rickman and Glenn Frey at the start, Prince in the middle, and Leonard Cohen towards the end, and George Michael (on Christmas Day no less) and Carrie Fisher at the end. Along with many, many, others.

And incredible to see Carrie Fisher’s mother, Debbie Reynolds, pass away the day after she did.

Civil War continues in Syria with reports that 450K Syrians have been killed in the fighting and almost 3 million refugees have fled the country.

Terrorist attacks linked to ISIL have continued throughout the year. The first in January in Libya claimed 60 lives. The last in December in Germany claimed 12. There were multiple attacks in Germany, France, Belgium and the USA. The worst incident was in Iraq with over 300 killed. Over 1,400 died in total.

From Ireland’s perspective, there were unfortunate public votes from our nearest neighbours on either side. In a June referendum the UK decided to leave the EU (well, to be more specific, England and Wales did and Scotland and Northern Ireland seem to have no choice but to go along with them). Among many other possible implications, this raises the possibility of a border being re-instituted between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. And in November, the citizens of the USA decided that Donald Trump would be their next president. The impact of this decision on Ireland and the rest of the world remains to be seen. He will take up the office on the 20th.

So goodbye 2016, and don’t let the door hit you on the way out.