Ireland

Top searches on Google in the Republic of Ireland in 2017 show a fascination with US politics and slime

The words and actions of US President Donald Trump were among the most searched for terms on Google among people from the Republic of Ireland in 2017. Picture by Brynn Anderson, Associated Press
The words and actions of US President Donald Trump were among the most searched for terms on Google among people from the Republic of Ireland in 2017. Picture by Brynn Anderson, Associated Press The words and actions of US President Donald Trump were among the most searched for terms on Google among people from the Republic of Ireland in 2017. Picture by Brynn Anderson, Associated Press

US politics, sport, hurricanes, solving a rubix cube, bus strikes, how to lose weight and the Antikythera mechanism occupied the minds of people in the Republic of Ireland this year according to Google's analysis of what was trending in 2017.

The internet giant has released its annual round up of what people around the world have been typing into its search engine and in the south of Ireland it's a mixture of the mundane (How to bleed radiators?), the worthy (How to register to vote? and What is bitcoin?) and the ridiculous (How to make slime?).

The most searched for term in the Republic was Hurricane Ophelia, followed by Donald Trump and the Ireland v Denmark World Cup qualifier. It wouldn't be Ireland if we weren't obsessing about the weather and a second hurricane makes an appearance in the top 10 most searched for terms. 

Hurricane Irma took sixth place, followed by the Bus Eireann strike, August's fight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather, the Eurovision and finally, at number 10, disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

In fact the McGregor/Mayweather fight appeared in two other Googles lists - 'How to watch McGregor vs Mayweather' was number two in the 'How to...?' list and was the second most searched for sporting event.

Ireland v Denmark took the top slot in the sporting events search list with 'All Ireland hurling' in ninth place and not a single reference to gaelic football anywhere in the top 10.

Donald Trump kept the search engine busy. As well as his being the second most common overall search term the word 'covfefe' and  'Daca' appeared in the top 10 'What is' search list.

In May Trump inexplicably tweeted "Despite the constant negative media covfefe' and followed it up with "Who can figure out the true meaning of "covfefe" ??? Enjoy!"

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals  (Daca) is a US government program created under Barack Obama to allow people brought to the US illegally as children the temporary right to live, study and work in America. The Trump administration ended the scheme in September.

Fidget spinners, teleporters, tracker mortgages, the Confederation Cup and pangolins also made the 'What is...?' top 10.

The 'How to...?' search terms include culinary dilemmas such as how to make pancake mix and how to open a coconut as well as how to download on netflix and how to bleed radiators but the top spot went to the question that must have been on everyone's lips - how to make slime? Searches for how to make slime peaked between July 23 and 29, possibly as parents tried desperately to keep children entertained during the school holidays. The question was also the most searched for around the world in 2017.