1997 in Ireland
Encyclopedia

Events

  • January 8 - Russia seeks to widen its ban on the importation of Irish
    Ireland
    Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

     beef due to BSE
    Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
    Bovine spongiform encephalopathy , commonly known as mad-cow disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. BSE has a long incubation period, about 30 months to 8 years, usually affecting adult cattle at a peak age onset of...

    .
  • February 27 - The law providing for divorce comes into effect today.
  • March 6 - Michael Lowry
    Michael Lowry
    Michael Lowry is an Irish politician. He is currently a Teachta Dála for the Tipperary North constituency and continues to enjoy high popularity in his constituency despite being the subject of a criminal investigation resulting from various scandals while in office.-Local government and...

     resigns as a member of the Fine Gael
    Fine Gael
    Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...

     Party.
  • March 7 - President Mary Robinson
    Mary Robinson
    Mary Therese Winifred Robinson served as the seventh, and first female, President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister, campaigner and member of the Irish Senate...

     meets Pope John Paul II
    Pope John Paul II
    Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

     in the Vatican.
  • March 17 - The new national independent radio station, Radio Ireland
    Today FM
    Radio Ireland Ltd, trading as 100-102 Today FM is an Irish commercial FM radio station which is available nationally. The station, which commenced broadcasting on Saint Patrick's Day in 1997, can be received nationally and carries a mix of music and talk...

    , goes on the air.
  • April 8 - Author Frank McCourt is awarded the Pulitzer Prize
    Pulitzer Prize
    The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...

     for his book Angela's Ashes.
  • June 12 - President
    President of Ireland
    The President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...

     Mary Robinson
    Mary Robinson
    Mary Therese Winifred Robinson served as the seventh, and first female, President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister, campaigner and member of the Irish Senate...

     is appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
  • June 16 - National University of Ireland, Maynooth
    National University of Ireland, Maynooth
    The National University of Ireland, Maynooth , was founded by the Universities Act, 1997 as a constituent university of the National University of Ireland. It is Ireland's second oldest university, having been formed from St Patrick's College, Maynooth, itself founded in 1795.The university is...

     comes into existence with the commencement of the Universities Act, 1997.
  • July 3 - Taoiseach
    Taoiseach
    The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...

    , Bertie Ahern
    Bertie Ahern
    Patrick Bartholomew "Bertie" Ahern is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 26 June 1997 to 7 May 2008....

    , meets Prime Minister
    Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
    The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

     Tony Blair
    Tony Blair
    Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...

     for the first time.
  • July 6 - There is violence in nationalist areas after an Orange Order
    Orange Institution
    The Orange Institution is a Protestant fraternal organisation based mainly in Northern Ireland and Scotland, though it has lodges throughout the Commonwealth and United States. The Institution was founded in 1796 near the village of Loughgall in County Armagh, Ireland...

     parade is allowed down the Garvaghy Road by the Royal Ulster Constabulary
    Royal Ulster Constabulary
    The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...

     in Portadown
    Portadown
    Portadown is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about 23 miles south-west of Belfast...

    .
  • July 9 - Counsel for Charles Haughey
    Charles Haughey
    Charles James "Charlie" Haughey was Taoiseach of Ireland, serving three terms in office . He was also the fourth leader of Fianna Fáil...

     admits that the former Taoiseach
    Taoiseach
    The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...

     accepted £1.3 million from businessman Ben Dunne
    Ben Dunne
    Ben Dunne is an Irish entrepreneur and former director of his family firm, Dunnes Stores, one of the largest chains of department stores in Ireland. In 1981, he was kidnapped by the IRA and held for seven days...

    .
  • July 20 - The Irish Republican Army
    Irish Republican Army
    The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...

     (IRA) institutes a second ceasefire.
  • September 12 - Mary Robinson
    Mary Robinson
    Mary Therese Winifred Robinson served as the seventh, and first female, President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister, campaigner and member of the Irish Senate...

     resigns as President of Ireland
    President of Ireland
    The President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...

     to take up a United Nations
    United Nations
    The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

     post.
  • September 18 - Collins Barracks (Dublin)
    Collins Barracks (Dublin)
    Collins Barracks is a former military barracks in the Arbour Hill area of Dublin, Ireland. The buildings are now the National Museum of Ireland, Decorative Arts and History...

     opens as converted to house the National Museum of Ireland
    National Museum of Ireland
    The National Museum of Ireland is the national museum in Ireland. It has three branches in Dublin and one in County Mayo, with a strong emphasis on Irish art, culture and natural history.-Archaeology:...

    's Decorative Arts and History collections.
  • October 7 - Substantial all-party talks begin in Northern Ireland
    Northern Ireland
    Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

    .
  • November 1 - The Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act, 1997
    Irish Blood Transfusion Service
    The Irish Blood Transfusion Service , or Seirbhís Fuilaistriúcháin na hÉireann in Irish, was established in the Republic of Ireland as the Blood Transfusion Service Board by the Blood Transfusion Service Board Order, 1965, it took its current name in April 2000 by Statutory Instrument issued by...

    , takes effect.
  • November 7 - Dick Spring
    Dick Spring
    Richard "Dick" Spring is an Irish businessman and former politician. He was first elected as a Labour Party Teachta Dála in 1981 and retained his seat until 2002. He became leader of the Labour Party in 1982, and held this position until 1997...

     confirms that he is resigning as leader of the Labour Party
    Labour Party (Ireland)
    The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...

    .
  • November 11 - Mary McAleese
    Mary McAleese
    Mary Patricia McAleese served as the eighth President of Ireland from 1997 to 2011. She was the second female president and was first elected in 1997 succeeding Mary Robinson, making McAleese the world's first woman to succeed another as president. She was re-elected unopposed for a second term in...

     is inaugurated as the eighth President of Ireland
    President of Ireland
    The President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...

    , the first time in the world that one woman has succeeded another as elected head of state
    Head of State
    A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...

    .
  • November 13 - Ruairi Quinn
    Ruairi Quinn
    Ruairi Quinn is an Irish Labour Party politician who has been Minister for Education and Skills since March 2011. He is currently a Teachta Dála for the Dublin South East constituency. He was Minister for Finance from 1994 to 1997, and leader of the Labour Party from 1997 to 2002.-Early...

     wins the leadership of the Labour Party.
  • December 27 - The Loyalist Volunteer Force
    Loyalist Volunteer Force
    The Loyalist Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed by Billy Wright in 1996 when he and the Portadown unit of the Ulster Volunteer Force's Mid-Ulster Brigade was stood down by the UVF leadership. He had been the commander of the Mid-Ulster Brigade. The...

     leader Billy Wright
    Billy Wright (loyalist)
    William Stephen "Billy" Wright was a prominent Ulster loyalist during the period of violent religious/political conflict known as "The Troubles". He joined the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1975 and became commander of its Mid-Ulster Brigade in the early 1990s...

     is shot dead in the Maze prison by members of the Irish National Liberation Army
    Irish National Liberation Army
    The Irish National Liberation Army or INLA is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group that was formed on 8 December 1974. Its goal is to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a socialist united Ireland....

    .

Gaelic games

  • Kerry
    Kerry GAA
    The Kerry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Kerry...

     win the National Football League
    National Football League (Ireland)
    The National Football League is a Gaelic football tournament held annually between the county teams of Ireland, under the auspices of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The prize for the winning team is the New Ireland Cup, presented by the New Ireland Assurance Company...

    , beating Cork 3-7 to 1-8 in the final.
  • Kerry go on to win the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
    All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
    The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the premier competition in Gaelic football, is a series of games organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and played during the summer and early autumn...

     winners for the first time since 1986, following a 0-13 to 1-7 victory over Mayo
    Mayo GAA
    The Mayo County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Mayo GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Mayo and the Mayo inter-county teams.-History:...

     in the final.
  • Limerick
    Limerick GAA
    The Limerick County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Limerick GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Limerick...

     beat Galway
    Galway GAA
    The Galway County Boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Galway GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Galway. The county boards are also responsible for the Galway inter-county teams.Unlike all other counties in Ireland,...

     1-12 to 1-9 in the National Hurling League
    National Hurling League
    The National Hurling League is an annual hurling competition between the county teams of Ireland. Contested by 35 teams , it operates on a system of promotion and relegation between four different divisions, with Division One...

     final.
  • Clare
    Clare GAA
    The Clare County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Clare GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Clare. The county board is also responsible for the Clare inter-county teams....

     beat Tipperary
    Tipperary GAA
    The Tipperary County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or C is one of over 30 regional executive boards throughout the world. These executive boards are known as County Boards even though some no longer correspond to the area under the jurisdiction of the counties from which their names...

     by 0-20 to 2-13 in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
    All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
    The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1887 for the top hurling teams in Ireland....

     final. It is their second title in three years.

Golf

  • Murphy's Irish Open
    Irish Open (golf)
    The Irish Open is a professional golf tournament on the European Tour, currently played at the end of July or early August each year. The event has been played in many locations on the island; its current home is the Killarney Golf & Fishing Club in County Kerry in southwestern Ireland...

     is won by Colin Montgomerie
    Colin Montgomerie
    Colin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE is a Scottish professional golfer, often referred to by one of his nicknames 'Monty'. He has had one of the finest careers in European Tour history, having won a record eight Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutively from 1993 to 1999, and 31...

     (Scotland
    Scotland
    Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

    ).

Snooker

  • Ken Doherty
    Ken Doherty
    Ken Doherty is an Irish professional snooker player. He is the only player ever to have been world amateur and world professional champion...

     becomes World Snooker champions following an 18 frames to 12 victory over Stephen Hendry
    Stephen Hendry
    Stephen Gordon Hendry, MBE is a Scottish professional snooker player. In 1990, he was the youngest-ever snooker World Champion, at the age of 21. He has won the World Championship a record seven times and was snooker's world number one for eight consecutive years between 1990 and 1998, and again...

     at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield.

Soccer

  • Shelbourne win the FAI Cup
    FAI Cup
    The Football Association of Ireland Challenge Cup, known as the FAI Ford Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland...

     for the fifth time.
  • The first ever League of Ireland
    League of Ireland
    The League of Ireland is the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. Founded in 1921, as a league of eight clubs, it has expanded over time into a two-tiered league of 22 clubs. It is currently split into the League of Ireland Premier Division and the League of Ireland...

     match to be broadcast live on television is from Tolka Park
    Tolka Park
    Tolka Park is an Irish football ground located in the north Dublin suburb of Drumcondra, on the northern banks of the River Tolka. It is currently the home ground of League of Ireland club Shelbourne...

     between Shelbourne
    Shelbourne F.C.
    Shelbourne Football Club is an Irish professional football club based in the Drumcondra area of Dublin, currently playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division....

     and Derry City
    Derry City F.C.
    Derry City Football Club is a professional football club based in Derry, Northern Ireland. It plays in the League of Ireland Premier Division...

     on Network 2
    RTÉ Two
    RTÉ Two is a free-to-air general entertainment channel operated by Irish state broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann. RTÉ Two is available throughout the island of Ireland through digital terrestrial service Saorview, VHF and UHF bands, and is also available via satellite to Irish subscribers of...

    .

January to June

  • 31 January - John Joseph Scanlan
    John Joseph Scanlan
    John Joseph Scanlan was the second Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu in the United States.Born in Iniscarra in County Cork, Ireland, Scanlan was ordained a priest on June 22, 1930 for the Archdiocese of San Francisco.On July 8, 1954, Scanlan was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of...

    , second Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu
    Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu
    The Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, officially in Latin Dioecesis Honoluluensis, is an ecclesiastical territory or particular church of the Catholic Church in the United States...

     (b.1906
    1906 in Ireland
    -Events:*January 4 - Irish Parliamentary Party Member of Parliament, William O'Brien, calls on nationalists to extract the maximum concessions for Ireland from every English government ....

    ).
  • 2 February - Seán Ó Síocháin
    Seán Ó Síocháin
    Seán Ó Síocháin was an Irish footballer, hurler and ballad-singer who became General-Secretary of the GAA.-Life:...

    , former Gaelic Athletic Association
    Gaelic Athletic Association
    The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...

     president.
  • February - Reg Ryan
    Reg Ryan
    Reginald Alphonso Ryan , also referred to as Paddy Ryan, is a former Irish footballer who played for West Bromwich Albion, Derby County and Coventry City. Ryan was also a dual international, playing for both Ireland teams - the FAI XI and the IFA XI. He was the last player to represent both teams...

    , soccer player (b.1925
    1925 in Ireland
    -Events:*February 11 - In the Dáil a resolution is passed making it illegal for any citizen to secure a divorce with the right to re-marry in the State....

    ).
  • 17 April - Chaim Herzog
    Chaim Herzog
    Chaim Herzog served as the sixth President of Israel , following a distinguished career in both the British Army and the Israel Defense Forces .-Early life:...

    , sixth President of Israel
    President of Israel
    The President of the State of Israel is the head of state of Israel. The position is largely an apolitical ceremonial figurehead role, with the real executive power lying in the hands of the Prime Minister. The current president is Shimon Peres who took office on 15 July 2007...

     (1983–1993) (b.1918
    1918 in Ireland
    -Events:*January 18 - Count Plunkett, Seán T. O'Kelly and others protest at the forcible feeding of Sinn Féin prisoners in Mountjoy Prison.*March 2 - In Skibbereen, County Cork Ernest Blythe is arrested for non-compliance with a military rule directing him to reside in Ulster.*March 6 - In the...

    ).
  • 12 March - William Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel
    William Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel
    William Francis Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel GCMG, PC , styled Viscount Ennismore between 1924 and 1931, was a British peer and Labour politician...

    , peer and Labour
    Labour Party (UK)
    The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

     politician (b.1906
    1906 in Ireland
    -Events:*January 4 - Irish Parliamentary Party Member of Parliament, William O'Brien, calls on nationalists to extract the maximum concessions for Ireland from every English government ....

    ).
  • 2 May - Robin Kinahan
    Robin Kinahan
    Sir Robert George Caldwell "Robin" Kinahan was a politician, businessman and a senior member of the Orange Order in Northern Ireland. In his obituary, he was described as one of the last of the "county elite" to remain a high-ranking member of the Orange Order during the turbulent years of The...

    , Unionist politician and businessman (b.1916
    1916 in Ireland
    -Events:*January 14 - Michael Collins quits his job in London and returns to Ireland.*February 14 - John Redmond is re-elected Chairman of the Irish Parliamentary Party in Dublin.*February 29 - The week long Derry Feis opens in the city....

    ).
  • 9 May - Thomas FitzGerald, Earl of Offaly
    Thomas FitzGerald, Earl of Offaly
    Thomas FitzGerald, Earl of Offaly was the only son of Maurice FitzGerald, Marquess of Kildare ....

     (b.1974
    1974 in Ireland
    -Events:*January 2 - The Northern Ireland Executive enjoys its first day in office.*February 15 - A 600 lb bomb explodes in Dungannon.*April 24 - The ESB announces that Carnsore Point on the Wexford coast will be the site of its nuclear power station....

    ).
  • 23 May - Noel Browne
    Noel Browne
    Noël Christopher Browne was an Irish politician and doctor. He holds the distinction of being one of only five Teachtaí Dála to be appointed Minister on their first day in the Dáil. His controversial Mother and Child Scheme in effect brought down the First Inter-Party Government of John A...

    , politician and former Cabinet Minister (b.1915
    1915 in Ireland
    -Events:*April 4–25,000 National Volunteers assemble at the Phoenix Park. John Redmond takes the salute from under the statue of Charles Stewart Parnell on Sackville Street....

    ).
  • 24 May - Edward Mulhare
    Edward Mulhare
    Edward Mulhare was a popular television actor whose career spanned four decades.Born at 22 Quaker Road, Cork City, County Cork, Ireland, and educated by the Irish Christian Brothers, Mulhare intended to study medicine, but was sidetracked by a growing interest in acting...

    , actor (b.1923
    1923 in Ireland
    -Events:*January 13 - Beechpark, the residence of President W. T. Cosgrave in Dublin, is set on fire.*January 10 - An order is signed creating the Revenue Commissioners....

    ).
  • 16 June - Michael O'Herlihy
    Michael O'Herlihy
    Michael O'Herlihy was an Irish television producer and director who directed shows like Gunsmoke , Maverick , Star Trek , Hawaii Five-O , M*A*S*H and The A-Team . Born in Dublin, Ireland, O'Herlihy was the younger brother of actor Dan O'Herlihy...

    , television director (b.1929
    1929 in Ireland
    -Events:*January 17 - All cats from abroad, except Great Britain, are to be kept in quarantine for a period of six months to avoid rabies.*February 8 - A Belfast court sentences Fianna Fáil leader, Éamon de Valera, to one month in jail for illegally entering County Armagh.*February 20 -...

    ).
  • 18 June - Julia Clifford
    Julia Clifford
    Julia Clifford was a fiddler and Irish traditional musician.Julia Murphy was born at Lisheen, Gneeveguilla, County Kerry, part of an area in west Munster known as Sliabh Luachra one of eight children. Her father Bill played flute, fife, and fiddle and had a fife and drum band...

    , fiddle player and traditional musician (b.1914
    1914 in Ireland
    -Events:*17 January - Edward Carson inspects a parade of the East Belfast Regiment of the Ulster Volunteers.*20 February - The Fethard-on-Sea life-boat capsizes on service off the County Wexford coast: nine crew are lost....

    ).

July to December

  • 25 September - Jim Kemmy
    Jim Kemmy
    Jim Kemmy was an Irish socialist politician from Limerick, who started his political career in the Labour Party...

    , Irish Labour Party and Democratic Socialist Party
    Democratic Socialist Party (Ireland)
    The Democratic Socialist Party was a small left wing political party in the Republic of Ireland. It was a merger of Jim Kemmy's Limerick Socialist Organisation and the Socialist Party of Ireland. Jim Kemmy was an Irish politician and member of Dáil Éireann...

     TD
    Teachta Dála
    A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...

     (b.1936
    1936 in Ireland
    -Events:*February 9 - Brian de Valera, third son of Éamon de Valera, dies in a riding accident, aged 21.*March 5 - Five hundred delegates attend the Fine Gael - United Ireland Party Árd-Feis in Dublin. W. T...

    ).
  • 20 December - Jim Gibbons
    Jim Gibbons (Irish politician)
    James "Jim" Gibbons was a senior Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was first elected in 1957 as a Teachta Dála for Carlow–Kilkenny. He held his seat until 1982...

    , former Fianna Fáil
    Fianna Fáil
    Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...

     TD
    Teachta Dála
    A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...

    , Member of the European Parliament
    Member of the European Parliament
    A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

     and Cabinet Minister (b.1924
    1924 in Ireland
    -Events:*January 15 - The last internee at Kilmainham Gaol, Ernie O'Malley, is transferred to St. Bricin's Military Hospital.*April 20 - Sinn Féin commemorates the anniversary of the events of the 1916 Easter Rising....

    ).
  • 29 December - John Graham, Irish Republican Army activist in the 1940s (b.1915
    1915 in Ireland
    -Events:*April 4–25,000 National Volunteers assemble at the Phoenix Park. John Redmond takes the salute from under the statue of Charles Stewart Parnell on Sackville Street....

    ).
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