POLITICS


1. Fine Gael's George Lee topped the poll in the Dublin South by-election. Who came second?


2. Who is the newly elected Green party senator­ in the Seanad?


3. Which portfolio did Ireland's new EU commissioner Maire Geoghegan-Quinn get on the commission?


4. What is the one European constituency in the Republic of Ireland in which Fianna Fáil does not have a seat?


5. Who won the Dublin Central by-election?


6. Name the two Sligo TDs who resigned the party whip over the withdrawal of cancer services at Sligo General Hospital?


7. What was the percentage Yes vote in the Lisbon referendum?


8. Which constituency had the biggest Yes vote in the Lisbon referendum?


9. With the fall of the PDs, Mary Harney this year became the first independent minister in the Cabinet in over half a century. Who was the last?


10. Who said this in August: "No worse fate could befall an opposition than to precipitate­ themselves into government by defeating measures, the rejection of which could throw our state into the hands of the IMF."


SPORT


1. Who won the Tour De France in 2009?


2. Who refereed Ireland's World Cup play-off match against France in Paris in November?


3. Man Utd have two sets of brothers in their first team squad. Name them.


4. Who won the 2009 FAI Cup final?


5. Who played in this year's All Ireland camogie final?


6. Who will Ireland's soccer team play in their first game in the new stadium at Lansdowne­ Road in August?


7. Who was recently appointed as Armagh's football manager?


8. Who won the WBO welterweight championship­ in November?


9. Kerry All Ireland winning footballer Tadhg Kennelly recently signed for which Australian Rules club?


10. Who is the director general of the GAA?


ENTERTAINMENT


1. What singer became the new face of Chanel this year?


2. What is the name of Patrick Swayze's autobiography, completed before he died in September?


3. Who came third in The X Factor?


4. What is Lady Gaga's real name?


5. Katie Price dated Alex Reid after breaking up with Peter Andre. What is Reid's job?


6. What was the name of the winning chocolate bar designed for Cadbury's on The Apprentice?


7. What is the name of Susan Boyle's cat?


8. What singer was attacked by a "fan" as she signed autographs?


9. What Irish actor has been nominated for a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Winston Churchill?


10. What car company has a marketing tie-in with box-office vampire hit New Moon?


BUSINESS


1. Which airline said it had been investigating­ the logistics of charging for the use of toilets on its planes?


2. Which Trinity College professor returned to the Central Bank as governor having worked there as an economist in the 1980s?


3. Whose severance package was described as a sweetheart deal and the equivalent of winning the Lotto by the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Bernard Allen?


4. Which multi-billionaire came to the New York Times' rescue with a $250m investment when substantial debt problems threatened to derail America's most famous newspaper?


5. "I'm not saying I can see the green shoots of recovery, but there is a risk that we are starting to sound like a millennialist suicide cult." Which UK politician shot down the economic doomsayers in January?


6. The two richest men in America saw their personal wealth fall by a total of $17bn last year according to Forbes magazine – who are they?


7. Who said: "I live in a tormented state now, knowing of all the pain and suffering that I have created."


8. Kraft made a £10bn hostile takeover bid Cadbury's toward the end of the year which the chocolate manufacturer rejected – but which two confectioners are said to be
interested in coming on board?


9. Approximately how much in accumulated unpaid interest is to be transferred to Nama when it takes ownership of land and developments originally valued at €88bn and now worth €47bn?


10. How much is Bord Gáis intending to invest in completing the project pipeline of SWS, the alternative energy group it recently acquired?


THE ARTS


1. Which Irish band was the 10th biggest album seller on iTunes UK in 2009?


2. "Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while you shouldn't have f***ed with? That's me." Which actor uttered this immortal line in 2009?


3. Whose bestselling memoir, published shortly after his death this year, is called Stirred but Not Shaken?


4. Who won this year's Choice Music Prize?


5. Who won this year's Mercury Music Award?


6. Which hard-partying Manhattan pensioner made a return to form with The Last Bachelor?


7. Who won this year's Oscar for Best Supporting Actor?


8. Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall scooped this year's Man Booker prize. But for whom was her subject, Thomas Cromwell, an advisor and spin doctor?


9. Name the TV legend who voiced the role of Carl Fredricksen in Disney/Pixar's Up.


10. Which Irish actress has received two nominations in the US Critics Choice Awards?


We've got all the answers...


POLITICS 1: Labour's Alex White; 2: Niall O Brolchain; 3: Research and Innovation; 4: Dublin; 5: Maureen O'Sullivan; 6: Eamon Scanlon and Jimmy Devins; 7: 67.13%; 8: Dublin South; 9: James Dillon; 10: Former taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Garret Fitzgerald


sport 1: Alberto Contador; 2: Martin Hansson; 3: Rafael and Fabio Da Silva, Jonny and Corry Evans; 4: Sporting Fingal; 5: Cork and Kilkenny; 6: Argentina; 7: Peter McDonnell; 8: Manny Pacquiao; 9: The Sydney Swans; 10: Paraic Duffy


entertainment 1: Lily Allen; 2: One Last Dance; 3: Stacy Solomon; 4: Stefani Germanotta; 5: Professional cage fighter; 6: Blasta; 7: Pebbles; 8: Leona Lewis; 9: Brendan Gleeson; 10: Volvo


Business: Ryanair; 2: Professor Patrick Honohan; 3: Former Fás director Rody Molloy, whose severance package included an annual pension of €111,000;,a tax-free lump sum north of €333,000 and an ex gratia severance payment of €111,000; 4: Mexican telecommunications magnate Carlos Slim; 5: mayor of London, Boris Johnson; 6: Bill Gates (down $7bn to $50bn) and Warren Buffett (down $10bn to $40bn); 7: Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff apologising to the victims of his billion-dollar ponzi scheme before being sentenced to 150 years in prison; 8: Hershey's and Nestlé; 9: €9bn; 10: €700m


the arts 1: The Script; 2: Clint Eastwood, as Walt Kowalski in Gran Torino; 3: The first ever celebrity chef, Keith Floyd; 4: Jape aka Richie Egan for Ritual; 5:Speech Debelle for Speech Therapy; 6: Jay McInerney; 7: The late Heath Ledger, for his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight; 8: Henry VIII; 9: Ed 'Lou Grant' Asner; 10: Saoirse Ronan