Many of us gathered in and around Dublin's Mansion House yesterday for the funeral of our young friend and comrade Cormac Ó Braonáin, who's tragic death at the weekend shocked everyone who loved him. He loved this.

Meanwhile, the deep mid-winter heralded more election straws in the wind as our Scroogly Government belatedly announced it will increase the statutory minimum wage (but not until February).

The Ulster Museum got a surprise Christmas present of six Rembrandt etchings (including his Adoration of the Shepherds) under the UK Government's 'acceptance-in-lieu' scheme, which allows rich individuals to settle their tax bills with pricey artworks.

Elsewhere, we report on the advent of new promotional paths in local government, our airports are gearing up for a busy festive period, and the winter solstice will be late this year.

The last set of 2019 Fórsa members' e-bulletins dropped down 54,000 digital chimneys yesterday. You can read them here: Civil service, education, health & welfare, local authorities and services & enterprises.

And this is also our final Digest of the year. Thanks for reading, and glad tidings to those who've gifted comment and encouragement over the last twelve months. We'll be back on 6th January.

In the meantime, here's some Zeasonal Zen.

Have a great break.

Bernard