2009 recalls a year of sporting highs and lows...

It was the year that the 'Hand of Henry' denied Ireland the chance to go to the soccer World Cup Finals, as a blatant handball by Thierry Henry helped France to a 2-1 aggregate victory in a qualifying playoff.

Irish rugby celebrated a first Grand Slam in sixty-one years and Leinster won the Heineken Cup for the first time.

'We're gonna be in the Hudson', an American pilot calmly informed air traffic controllers as he crash-landed an airliner onto the freezing waters of the Hudson Bay off Manhattan Island: all 155 passengers and crew were safely rescued and pilot Chesley Sullenberger became a national hero.

Playlist:

Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling

Lisa Hannigan - Lille

Westlife - What About Now

Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody

La Roux - Bulletproof

Florence & The Machine - Cosmic Love

The Coronas - Listen Dear

Lady Gaga - Poker Face

Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition