With the new year fast approaching, we asked members of the public how this year panned out for them and what they’re looking forward to in 2024.

And Malcolm MacPherson and Jane Hodson, from Douglas, both said they’d both enjoyed the last 12 months.

Jane said: ‘I work as a tour guide, and I work with all types of tours, from a driver guide right through to the work ships.

‘I’ve probably had the best year I’ve ever had.

‘The island has come up trumps with all the visitors, they love it!

‘I think that we’ve benefited from it and the biggest thing is all the Americans coming back to look for family history, so it has been an incredible year.

‘I’m optimistic for 2024, my calendar is filling up already.

‘We’ve got so much potential here for the island and we’ve got so much to offer.

‘We tend to look at the negatives but we’ve got glitches but everywhere does.’

Malcolm added: ‘I’m lucky I suppose, I’m retired with a nice pension, so I’m not suffering like a lot of people are.

‘So in that sense I’m comfortable, but it feels wrong to celebrate that because the world is in such a terrible state.

‘There’s always an “us and them” and it seems to be getting worse throughout the world, that’s how I feel.

‘Nobody understands anyone else, you can’t say anything without being singled out and attacked just because you’ve got an alternative view to everyone else.

‘But it’s not just that it’s the fighting, the killing, all for no good reason. All because people aren’t talking to each other.’

Graham Smith, from Glen Vine, said: ‘I’m looking forward to taking his motorhome out in 2024.

‘It’s being repaired at the moment so we’re really looking forward to taking it out.

‘We’ll take it across the world, well most weekends it’s round the Isle of Man but we are looking forward to going back across not anywhere in particular but we’re looking forward to enjoying North Wales, and South England, and maybe Scotland at some point.’

Visitors Brian and Margaret Morgan said they’d had a ‘fantastic year’.

Margaret said: ‘We’ve had a good year, especially when we come over to see the grandchildren over here and we go to Ireland to see our grandchildren over there.’

Brian said: ‘We were lucky to get over here, and we’ve just bought the sea sickness tablets for our return!

‘My new year resolution is to enjoy myself as much as I possibly can, and generally speaking I succeed.

‘We’ve got a cruise in January down to the Caribbean so that’s something to look forward to and it will get rid of part of the winter, and we’ve got a big family reunion in Wales with our family from there, Isle of Man and Lincoln, and we’ll all be in a house together which will be great.’

Harry Corrin, from St Mark’s, explained how his year went and what he’s got involved in.

He said: ‘It’s been awesome, and different to most years.

‘It’s been one of them years when I’ve done different things, tried new sports and had different jobs, and a nice end to the year having a football tournament too.

‘I tried Muay Thai, and you get your head beaten in for the first few months but after that you think you’re a little bit better.

‘I got involved with that (Muay Thai) through a friend at the gym and decided to go for it.

‘I’m looking forward to 2024 for the rugby season mainly, I play for Douglas Rugby Club, so looking forward to going away with those boys.

‘I don’t believe in resolutions because there’s no tomorrow, it sounds cringey but just do it now. There’s no need to wait for the next year!’