The decision by a stalwart parliamentarian and former premier to bid farewell made March a pivotal month in the island’s political history, for the One Bermuda Alliance in particular.

Michael Dunkley’s announcement made for a moving, occasionally emotional session in the House of Assembly on March 15 — including for political rivals from across the aisle who had sparred with him during debates over a 27-year career.

The MP, known for his dedicated canvassing, described for fellow legislators how he had “enjoyed working for the people and working for a better Bermuda”, calling his constituency of Smith’s North “my extended family”.

He added: “I will miss being on the doorstep and will miss those relationships. I have been blessed to serve for many years and honoured to be the twelfth Premier of Bermuda.”

The businessman’s political tenure began in May 6, 1997 with the by-election triggered by the resignation of David Saul, the former United Bermuda Party premier who previously held Devonshire South.

His decision to bow out, following Trevor Moniz in 2020, Patricia Gordon-Pamplin later that same year and Cole Simons in 2023, marked the departure of a final leading figure from the former ruling UBP from an Opposition in metamorphosis as a party.

Mr Dunkley’s speech came with a call for less partisan bickering, and in a spirited follow-up interview with The Royal Gazette, he declared that the next time Bermuda’s voters went to the polls, “certainly there’s no way the PLP is going to have that supermajority”.

He said that the 30-6 balance in the House was “not working well for Bermuda” and accused the Progressive Labour Party government of becoming “more and more disconnected from the people, and it’s not good — for a strong democracy, we need to put ourselves in a better position”.

As attested by his social-media pictures showing travels, time spent with family and enjoying golf, Mr Dunkley’s decision to hang up his political hat has made for a gratifying close to 2024.

History of a different sort came in March with the life sentence meted by the Supreme Court to Kamal Worrell, a lawyer convicted early in 2024 of murdering the mother of his child.

Although the body of Chavelle Dillon-Burgess was never found, a jury found him guilty by a majority verdict.

On March 13, he was sentenced to serve at least 27 years behind bars.

The legal landmark was a hollow consolation for Thelma-Jean Wong, the grandmother of his victim, who along with Worrell’s mother, was left to care for the couple’s young son, also named Kamal — and haunted by not knowing what had befallen Ms Dillon-Burgess.

The island bid goodbye to a number of luminaries during March, beginning with tributes to Roy Johnson, Bermuda’s first Olympic boxer who competed in the men's light-welterweight category at the 1972 Games in Munich.

The island also mourned Gombey legend Leon “Sparky” Place, the last remaining original member of Place’s Gombeys from its formation in 1957.

In 2022, when the troupe celebrated its 65th anniversary, Mr Place spoke of his joy in carrying on the legacy.

“It feels great to be keeping this tradition alive,” he told the Gazette.

“There is just this great feeling you get from dancing.”

Margaret Hill-Brown, a former Miss Bermuda and model who opened doors for Black women after sporting her Afro hairstyle at the 1970 Miss Universe beauty pageant in Miami, was remembered for her easygoing warmth.

Ms Hill-Brown was widely admired as an inspiration to Bermudians.

The PLP mourned one of its heroes in March with the death of architect Charles Daniels.

Mr Daniels headed the party’s Hamilton Parish branch and also led the renovation of party headquarters at Alaska Hall on Court Street in Hamilton — working closely with the late party leader L. Frederick Wade, along with the late MP and senator Reginald Burrows.

Tributes were paid in March to a banking industry trailblazer, Dorothea Butterfield.

Ms Butterfield rose from her role as the first Black bank teller at the Bank of Bermuda to becoming the bank’s first Black female board member,

In another loss, tragedy struck on March 27 at Horseshoe Bay when a visitor, Hyon Duk Shin, from Pennsylvania, lost his life after swimming out to help a young girl struggling in the tide.

Political controversy came in March with the Government Loans Amendment Act 2024, allowing cash from the Government’s Sinking Fund to be “applied to a quango or other public funds”.

It passed the Senate over strenuous objections from the Opposition and independent senators.

The use of the funds towards housing and healthcare sparked a political refrain, with the OBA and PLP trading barbs over what the Opposition deemed an inappropriate use of government money.