THAT was the year that was – to slightly tweak a phrase dreamed up many years ago by TV folk.

Time, as time always does, passed so quickly that we’ve hardly had time to introduce ourselves to 2015.

And here we are putting out the welcome mat for 2016, which doubtless will fly by at the speed of a British major in space.

This looming year, like all those before and all those to come, is assuredly going to play the same wicked trick with time.

Blink and we will miss it. So, what can we recall of these times past? Perhaps it’s best we see it through the vision-impairing mist which has dimmed our world for the last couple of months.

The spectre of a mass exodus from the forever-troubled Middle East was a constant reminder of the troubled world we inhabit.

The odious menace of terrorism and the proliferating acts of random violence continue to trouble our lives– ever closer and louder still.

Worrying consequences – and proofs – of climate change are imposing themselves more readily on our sluggish consciousness.

And lest we forget… our beloved healthy world of sport has been given a doctor’s note which has diagnosed corruption. Cycling, football and now athletics.

But at least politics has not surprised us. It is, as ever, full of clowns who have one major flaw. They do not make us laugh.

Giggles reserved for Donald Trump have been replaced by grimaces. It’s not beyond the realms of fantasy to believe he could one day inhibit the most powerful nation there is.

All in all there is not much to shout about, or so it would seem. Humankind, being nothing if not resilient, will put on a smiling face and consign these anxieties to oblivion and make 2016 a year to remember – for all the right reasons.

We must be of good cheer – and we will be.

Happy New Year!