Contents 1 Events 2 Arts and literature 3 Sport 3.1 Gaelic football 3.2 Golf 3.3 Hurling 3.4 Olympics 3.5 Soccer 4 Births 5 Deaths 5.1 Full date unknown 6 References

[edit] Events

• 1 January - The VECs of the towns of Bray, Drogheda, Sligo, Tralee and Wexford are abolished.
• 14 January - The Planning Tribunal opens in Dublin Castle.
• 27 February - Republic of Ireland qualifies for entry into the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union.
• 15 March - Former Fine Gael Minister Hugh Coveney dies in a fall from a cliff in County Cork.
• 10 April - Good Friday: the British and Irish governments and all the political parties in the Northern Ireland (except the Democratic Unionist Party sign the Belfast Agreement.
• 22 May - The Good Friday Agreement is endorsed in a referendum by people north and south of the border.
• 15 August - 29 people die in a bomb explosion near the centre of Omagh, County Tyrone, caused by the Real IRA.
• 20 September - TV3 goes on the air.
• 26 November - Tony Blair becomes the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to address the Oireachtas.^[1]
• 30 November - Unemployment falls by 20% with the number of people in work rising by 100,000.
• 12 December - Members of the Labour Party and Democratic Left agree to merge.
• 31 December - The Punt is traded for the last time as the Euro currency is launched.

[edit] Arts and literature

• 28 February - the actor and comedian Dermot Morgan dies suddenly in London.
• 24 December - Gay Byrne broadcasts his final radio show from St. Stephen's Green.

[edit] Sport

[edit] Gaelic football

• Galway GAA win the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, beating Kildare GAA in the final.

[edit] Golf

• Murphy's Irish Open is won by David Carter (England).

[edit] Hurling

• Offaly GAA win the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship for the second time in five years.

[edit] Olympics

• 6 August - Olympic gold medalist Michelle Smith is banned from competition for four years for tampering with a drug test.

[edit] Soccer

• St Patrick's Athletic won the League of Ireland
• Cork City FC won the FAI Cup
• Shelbourne's home UEFA Cup tie against Rangers is moved to England due to fears of sectarian trouble. Despite taking a 3-0 lead, Shels lose 3-5.
• 7 May - The Irish under-16 team wins the European Championship.

[edit] Births

[edit] Deaths

• 28 February - Dermot Morgan, actor and comedian (b.1952).
• 15 March - Hugh Coveney, Fine Gael TD and Cabinet Minister, yachtsman (b.1935).
• 23 June - Maureen O'Sullivan, actress (b.1911).
• 6 May - Sybil Connolly, fashion designer (b.1921).
• 22 May - Jim Power, former Galway hurler (b.1894).
• 26 May - Kate Cruise O'Brien, writer (b.1948).
• 20 September - Robert Malachy Burke, Christian Socialist and philanthropist (b.1907).
• 11 November - Paddy Clancy, folk singer (b.1922).
• 13 November - Valerie Hobson, actress (b.1917).
• 21 November - John David Gwynn, cricketer (b.1907).
• 26 December - Cathal Goulding, Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army and the Official IRA (b.1923).

[edit] Full date unknown

• Paul O'Dwyer, lawyer and politician in the United States (b.1907).
• Tommy Quaid, Limerick hurler (b.1957).
• Liam de Paor, historian.

[edit] References