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- Cowen ends the year all at sea The year has ended as it began, with the economy on the skids and Brian Cowen under pressure, but Lenihan has come out of it with a stronger reputation, writes MIRIAM LORD
- Time to atone for the sins of the fathers This was the year when the Catholic Church was finally forced to account for its actions in the face of two horrific reports, writes FINTAN O'TOOLE
- The year the social partners filed for divorce As the social partners and the Government go their seperate ways, it remains to be seen who will take custody of the economy, writes Industry Correspondent MARTIN WALL
- The year of the cuts It was an extraordinary year in politics, but in spite of swingeing budget cuts and major election defeats, the Coalition survived 2009 in good order, writes STEPHEN COLLINS
- Ten things that cheered us up Baby giraffes, Brian O'Driscoll, and bare facts about Brian Cowen: FRANK MCNALLY on people and events that livened up a bleak year - and they weren't all Irish
- Frozen by electoral fear The leaders of the Northern Executive - and Peter Robinson in particular - need to put aside worries about their vulnerability in next year's British general election and ensure that the coalition remains viable, writes GERRY MORIARTY, Northern Editor
- A lot on the line as shoppers go online Retailers are smarting from cross-Border shopping and a move online as value is king for shoppers, writes PAUL CULLEN, Consumer Affairs Correspondent
World news
- bisnezz sucks this year Retailers are smarting from cross-Border shopping and a move online as value is king for shoppers, writes PAUL CULLEN, Consumer Affairs Correspondent
- Autumn brings a chill to year one of Obama High moments of the early presidency dissipate over a stalled healthcare Bill and mounting casualties in Afghanistan, writes LARA MARLOWE Washington Correspondent
- Early effort to reshape foreign policy has borne fruit Much disillusionment with Obama is born of unrealistic expectations, writes DENIS STAUNTON Foreign Editor
- Efforts to revitalise economy will dominate in 2010 Bedding down recovery will sorely test the reforms brought about by the Lisbon Treaty, writes ARTHUR BEESLEY Europe Correspondent
- Brown still has fire for the fight despite a grim year It's been a bad year for politics and politicians, with an expenses scandal exposing extraordinary greed, writes MARK HENNESSY London Editor
- Hopes of millions cynically dashed World leaders failed dismally to respond to the perils of climate change at Copenhagen, writes FRANK McDONALD Environment Editor
- Peace process on verge of expiring despite talks going back to 1991 Another intifada could result from ongoing stasis in Israel and the Palestinian territories, writes MICHAEL JANSEN
- Ghosts of failed empires could emerge from 'graveyard' to haunt US president Barack Obama's plan to start withdrawing troops in 2011 could lead to further instability, writes MARY FITZGERALD Foreign Affairs Correspondent
- Getting used to flexing its fresh political muscle This was a year which saw Earth's most populous nation begin to wield new influence as an emergent superpower, writes CLIFFORD COONAN in Beijing
- This year they said Compiled by DAVID SHANKS
- The year that was A month by month round-up
Sports news
- Conversion on the road to Croker It was rugby's year, and every other sporting organisation needs to acknowledge it because they're playing catch-up, writes TOM HUMPHRIES
- Irish rugby revels in season in the sun RUGBY Rewind 12 months and it's easy to forget where Irish rugby was, writes GERRY THORNLEY
- Glimmer of hope for future campaigns SOCCER The performance in Paris should represent the benchmark of what can be achieved next time around, writes EMMET MALONE
- Financial troubles dominate the domestic scene in difficult year SOCCER Some years back, in rather better times for that country, a tour guide in Iceland told a group of tourists I was part of that the local population had regarded the second World War - a calamity for most of the rest of Europe, an "emergency" here - as a major opportunity because of the money and employment opportunities that came with the arrival of so many foreign troops, first British then American
- Tragic death of Darren Sutherland casts dark shadow BOXING The tragic death of Ireland's bronze medal winner at the Beijing Olympics hit the sport hard, writes JOHNNY WATTERSON
- The legends have passed, but their legacies live on PASSING STARS Some lived for the sound of a horse's hooves hitting firm turf. Some thrived when crashing through tackles with an oval ball. Some displayed their wizardry when clashing the ash, writes PHILIP REID
- Masters do just enough - again GAA - FOOTBALLEven the most excitable supporter of Kingdom football would allow that they never looked invincible this summer, wrties KEITH DUGGAN
- The year of the Cats' supreme rule GAA -HURLING Completing an historic four in a row of senior All-Ireland titles lifts Kilkenny onto a higher plane than any rival, writes SEÁN MORAN
- Sea The Stars stakes his claim as the all-time great without even breaking sweat HORSE RACING It was a season fit for a Hollywood script for Curragh trainer John Oxx, jockey Mick Kinane and Sea The Stars, writes BRIAN O'CONNOR
- Walsh takes career to another level HORSE RACING All Ruby Walsh has to do next March to become the most successful jockey in the history of the Cheltenham Festival rides is ride two more winners, writes BRIAN O'CONNOR
- Lowry's amazing story worth recalling GOLF PHILIP REID talks to Shane Lowry, whose victory in the Irish Open was up there as one of the great sporting stories of the year
- Never let facts ruin a juicy online story ONLINE Tiger Woods' off-course antics was the biggest global sports story of the year online - like it or not, writes CARL O'MALLEY
- How well do you know world athletics? ATHLETICS So this is where I would normally tell you what a good year it was for athletics. But where's the fun in that? IAN O'RIORDAN sets the questions
- They Said What? Compiled by MARY HANNIGAN
- The year that was A month by month round-up
Business news
- Does Nama have the power to swing economy into recovery? It was a year of budgets, bankers, builders, bishops, books and borrowers, writes PAT McARDLE
- Annus horribilis for Irish banks With each passing month things got worse for Irish banks and their handling of the crisis often did not go down well with the public or the Government, writes SIMON CARSWELL, Finance Correspondent>
- Developers hit as crisis deepens The bleak year spared no one as small and big players in the industry were hit and thousands of jobs lost, writes BARRY O'HALLORAN
- Transfer of loans to Nama sets up final phase of bank rescue plan The establishment of the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) marks the third part of the Government's plan to rescue the banking sector and put the country's financial institutions on a sound and viable footing.
- Time to act on fiscal regulation If 2008 was the year in which the global financial system fell apart, bringing down such bulge bracket institutions as Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, 2009 was the year in which the regulators finally started to take a step back and assess what exactly went wrong, rather than simply fire-fighting to prevent further collapses.
- Real and online lives likely to become blurred The noughties saw a revolutionary expansion of interactive services for personal users and this trend is certain to continue apace, writes KARLIN LILLINGTON
- Gadgets: Ten of the Best The top ten gadgets of 2009, compiled by CIARA O'BRIEN
- The Year That Was Compiled by SUZANNE LYNCH
- 2009 a year to forget for hard-pressed motor industry The list of challenges to car dealerships seems endless, with nothing to look forward to in 2010 except more problems, writes MICHAEL McALEER
- More a case of survival than of winning or losing A bleak January set the tone for the darkness to come. Jobs were lost, heads rolled and companies crashed, writes LAURA SLATTERY
- Planet Business LAURA SLATTERY looks back on a year in business
- Unprecedented state assistance helped avert global meltdown ANALYSIS: The role of the state has been of paramount importance to the development of modern financial systems, writes CHARLIE FELL
- Precarious nature of global state finances increasingly under microscope Soaring stock markets and a plummeting dollar hogged the headlines in 2009 but analysts expect 2010 to be dominated by bond market developments as the precarious nature of government finances across the globe increasingly come under the microscope, writes PROINSIAS O'MAHONY
- Strong Iseq masks huge volatility This outgoing year had it all - dead-cat bounces and bull rallies, crashes and cyclical recovery - but overall, global markets staged an impressive comeback this year, not least the battered Iseq index of Irish shares, writes CAROLINE MADDEN
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