Born in 2017

Brexit dominated Irish political life. The border between Northern Ireland and the Republic — which had become almost invisible during the peace process — was potentially going to be re-hardened. Ireland lobbied furiously in Brussels to protect the Good Friday Agreement and avoid a hard border.

Leo Varadkar became Taoiseach — Ireland's first gay head of government, an Indian-Irish man from Castleknock. His election was itself a symbol of how much the country had changed.