A selection of defining images from 2008's Home News, including top choices from DAVID SLEATOR, DARA MacDÓNAILL and BRYAN O'BRIEN.
DAVID SLEATOR explains his choice: "THIS PICTURE OF Bertie Ahern was taken after his last appearance before the Mahon Tribunal. It sticks out in my mind because it was also my last day at the tribunal, after more years than I can remember. I was a freelance photographer when I started covering the tribunals, and I've been on the staff of The Irish Times for over 10 years. On his last day, Ahern came out of the tribunal and walked past a crowd of onlookers, some of them heckling him. And instead of just getting into his car and driving off, he actually stood and faced them for several minutes. He just stood there and took it, with his hands in his pockets, and smiled. Then he got into the car and was driven away. This was a final picture. A final episode."
DARA MacDÓNAILLexplains his choice: "MY FIRST JOB that day was an exterior picture of a building on Sean McDermott Street, Dublin followed by an 11am public meeting organised by Age Action Ireland in the Alexander Hotel, Dublin. I had arrived at about 10.30am to see a steady stream of senior citizens gathering at the hotel. I stood around the lobby watching people arrive for the meeting about the Budget medical card changes.
Many of those attending this event had made long journeys and had walked through the city on quite a windy day. However, rather than claim their seats right away, they all stood in line to show the depth of their feelings by signing a petition. Even at this early stage, I could sense this was more than the usual public meeting we cover on a regular basis. Not everyone was a member of Age Action Ireland or from political parties and organised groups, many were there as individuals. They came from all walks of life and all parts of the city and country.
Before 11am the crowd became very large and the organisers decided to move the meeting to a bigger venue. The crowd made its way to the nearby St Andrew's Church, Westland Row. Again, as I watched people walking down the road, some being helped by others, many using walking sticks and frames, others being pushed in wheelchairs, I could feel their unity on this issue. Their message was going to be heard loud and clear. This photograph of Tommy Bolger was just one of many taken at the meeting. Although it does not show the size of the crowd attending the meeting, it does demonstrate the anger felt by some of those there. Bolger kept his hands over his ears the whole time and shouted to ensure he could not hear anything the Minister of State, John Moloney, said. This issue had been debated in depth on TV and radio over the previous number of days. Many of those attending felt this was their opportunity to speak and be listened to."
BRYAN O'BRIENexplains his choice: "THIS PHOTOGRAPH was taken in March. The assignment was a reception to unveil details of the development Seán Dunne proposed to build on the seven-acre Ballsbridge site his company had acquired in 2005, for more than €50 million per acre. The reception room was decorated with huge photo displays of the proposed Mountbrook Homes' development. There was also the other stuff you'd expect - finger food, wine and lots of very good suits. In the middle stood a model of One Berkeley Court, the proposed centrepiece residential tower. It would be 132m high and diamond shaped. A security man stood beside the model. It was an exquisite piece of craftsmanship, beautifully lit and detailed. I photographed it. Then Dunne arrived, and my colleagues and I posed him by the model, asking him to look this way and that, and so on. I set up my laptop in a corner and sent these pictures. I also sent some of the model itself, including this photo, which shows an inch-high couple looking out from their tiny apartment of the 37-story tower.
There was an odd poignancy to it, something sad about the miniature couple staring out of their futuristic minimalist abode. A colleague joked they had no furniture as they had spent all their money on the apartment. That poignancy has increased over the past nine months. As this goes to press the future of the development remains uncertain, not just because of planning issues that remain to be resolved, but also because of the downturn the economy, and in particular the property market, has seen this year.
So our little plastic couple, like so many others at the end of 2008, are in a sort of limbo, watching and waiting, and attempting to look out into the future."