With just a few days of 2024 to go, Newstalk Breakfast has been looking back at the highs and lows of another tumultuous year.
Here are five highlights from the past 12 months of the show:
Nicola Coughlan: Bridgerton sex scenes are 'easier with a friend'
Now in its third season, romance drama Bridgerton is one of the biggest hits in the history of streaming giant Netflix.
Two of the show’s stars, Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton, caught up with the Newstalk Breakfast to discuss what viewers could expect from the new season.
Like many romance dramas, Bridgerton contains a number of steamy scenes and Coughlan said she thought filming them were “easier with a friend”.
“In the lead-up in season two when we knew we’d lead season three, it was more nerve-wracking,” she said.
“It's easier with a friend – well it depends on what kind of friend.
“Luckily for us, it felt really easy and we had great trust in one another.”
Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan attend Netflix's Bridgerton. Photo by StillMoving.Net for Netflix.Trump wins second term as US President
It ranks as one of the greatest political comebacks of all time.
Four-years ago, he was humiliatingly ejected from the White House by US voters and Trump was widely written off as a has-been.
The 45th President slunk off to Florida and held frequent meetings with his lawyers, as he battled an avalanche of legal cases that threatened to send him to prison.
Despite it all, polls suggested that many voters still liked him; in the heartlands of America, many see his frankly expressed views as nothing more than commonsense.
Still, when Joe Biden announced his retirement, Vice President Kamala Harris surged in the polls and once again people began to wonder just how large the Democrats’ margin of victory would be.
The American people had other ideas and on polling day, Trump won not just a majority of States but more votes than Harris as well - the first time a Republican had won the popular vote in two decades.
Newstalk Breakfast was on air as the historic and world changing results poured in from the States.
President Donald J. Trump. Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI Credit: UPI/Alamy Live NewsRussell Crowe: Sinéad O'Connor 'touched my heart so deeply'
Sinéad O’Connor’s death left so many people grief stricken.
The popular singer died in 2023 and ever since then, the world has seemed less full of colour and light than it was when she was with us.
Actor Russell Crowe knew Sinéad personally and spoke to Newstalk Breakfast about meeting her in 2022 in Dalkey, County Dublin.
"That was a very interesting evening," he said.
"I was just there with a couple of other friends and one of them was friends with her.
"She sort of flashed past, it was a cold night... but then he caught up with her about 30 metres down the road.
"They stopped and talked and then he sort of waved me over.
"I went to join them... this is somebody who touched my heart so deeply".
Sinead O'Connor. Picture by: Alamy.com‘I was perfectly correct’ – O’Leary doubles down on controversial teacher criticism
Few people attract media attention like Micheal O’Leary.
The Ryanair boss is always forthright in his views and did not hold back when giving Fine Gael his endorsement during the General Election.
At a rally in Mullingar, Mr O’Leary said the Dáil is “full of teachers” and that he “wouldn’t generally employ a lot of teachers to go out and get things done”.
The remarks provoked outrage but Mr O’Leary was quite happy to stand by them on Newstalk Breakfast.
“I think what I said was perfectly correct,” he said.
“I love teachers. I think teachers do a great job, but I think there's too many teachers in the Dáil and we need more.
“Why can't we get more businesspeople to go into the Dáil? More computer engineers, more engineers?”
Michael O'Leary. Photograph: Sasko Lazarov / © RollingNews.ieKeir Starmer appointed British Prime Minister by King Charles
After 14-years, British voters decided to draw the curtain on Tory rule and elected a Labour Government led by Keir Starmer.
Tory MP after Tory MP lost their seat as the map of Britain was redrawn Labour red - with extra dashes of liberal yellow thrown in as well.
Keir Starmer. Photo by Ricky Vigil/Getty Images)The result was also a humiliating setback for the Scottish National Party. For years, the party had marketed itself as the authentic voice of the Scottish people.
No more; after years of delivering increasingly poor quality public services and a number of embarrassing scandals, the party lost 39 seats.
As the results continued to pour in, Newstalk Breakfast was live to deliver the results in all their dramatic detail.
Main image: Bridgerton stars Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newtown.
