Anthony Manduca looks at the people and organisations who toasted a good past 12 months and those who could not wait to see the back of 2014.
Karmenu Vella
A popular Labour veteran politician, Karmenu Vella was nominated as Malta’s next European Commissioner.
The Nationalist Party supported his nomination.
He was given the environment, maritime affairs and fisheries portfolio by incoming European Commision president Jean-Claude Juncker.
The former tourism minister is now part of the EU executive, which has the responsibility of proposing legislation, making decisions, upholding the EU’s treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the EU.
He earns a basic annual salary of €248,000.
Rebecca Cremona
Rebecca Cremona’s film, Simshar, inspired by the 2008 boat tragedy, was accepted for consideration to be nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards.
Hailed by many as the finest local production, Simshar was a local box office hit production and firmly established the young director, who also has a wealth of talent for commercials, music videos and film.
Simshar was so well received that Ms Cremona was signed up by Management 360, one of the top management companies in Hollywood which represents A-list directors, writers and actors.
Lino Farrugia Sacco
Judge Lino Farrugia Sacco is the great survivor of 2014. The Commission for the Administration of Justice twice concluded the judge broke the judiciary’s code of ethics and should be impeached.
However, the government decided, in February, to wait for a Constitutional Court case to be decided before carrying on with debating an impeachment motion against him. Judge Farrugia Sacco retired in August before the case was heard.
Nationalist Party deputy leader Mario de Marco said: “The law becomes an ass if it allows people to use judicial processes to stall other proceedings.”
Pierre Mejlak
One of the finest writers in this country, Mr Mejlak last month won the European Union Prize for Literature for his book Dak li l-Lejl Iħallik Tgħid.
That was the climax of a very successful year.
The author was also among the international writers whose work was read during the Dublin edition of the European Literature Night.
Also, one of Mr Mejlak’s earliest short stories was translated into Serbian.
He has published books for children, adaptations, a novel – which has been turned into a TV series – and a critically acclaimed collection of short stories.
The gay community
The Civil Unions Bill, which puts same-sex unions on an equal footing with marriage, was approved by Parliament in April and the vote was greeted by celebrations by on Palace Square.
The landmark legislation is seen as a major victory for the gay community and allows the adoption of children by gay couples. Malta is now one of the 24 countries in Europe which recognise some type of same-sex unions.
Civil rights activists consider the outgoing year as being the one during which the gay community finally managed to break society’s barriers.
But it wasn’t much fun for...
Manuel Mallia
The gaffe-prone politician was sacked as home affairs minister by the Prime Minister after he refused to step down in the wake of the findings of an inquiry into a shooting incident involving his driver.
A report by three former judges found that although Dr Mallia was not part of an attempted cover-up he should have ensured that an official statement about the incident was accurate or that it was immediately corrected.
Godfrey Farrugia
The former health minister chose to resign from Cabinet after Prime Minister Joseph Muscat offered him the social policy portfolio when he reshuffled his Cabinet on March 29 to nominate Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca as President of Malta, succeeding George Abela.
Dr Farrugia, whose administrative skills were the subject of some criticism, said in his resignation letter he could not accept Dr Muscat’s offer.
Paul Cremona
The approval of the Civil Unions Bill by Parliament in April was a massive blow to both the Church and to Archbishop Paul Cremona.
The decision pre-empted criticism – within clerical circles – of the Archbishop’s weak leadership.
Persistent rumours of ill-health turned out to be true and Mgr Cremona resigned as head of the Church in October, the first to do so in Malta since the 19th century.
Michael Mifsud
After terminating his contract with Australian A-League club Melbourne Heart in March, Michael Mifsud, 33, rejoined Sliema Wanderers last summer.
The Malta captain has endured a very disappointing season so far, scoring only one goal in the Premier League. To make matters worse, the country’s all-time leading scorer with 39, is facing a long spell on the sidelines after suffering a potentially serious injury in December.
The police
The year 2014 will go down as the Police Force’s annus horribilis.
Just recently, its third police commissioner in a year was appointed. Peter Paul Zammit was appointed soon after the March 2013 election but resigned in April, being succeeded by Acting Commissioner Ray Zammit who was dismissed and returned to his previous rank last month. Former Security Service head Michael Cassar was nominated to take over the helm.