1997 in Ireland
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See also: | 1997 in Northern Ireland Other events of 1997 List of years in Ireland |
Events from the year 1997 in Ireland.
Contents
Incumbents
- President: Mary Robinson (Labour) (until 12 September), Mary McAleese (Fianna Fáil) (starting 11 November)
- Taoiseach: John Bruton (Fine Gael) (until 26 June), Bertie Ahern (Fianna Fáil) (starting 26 June)
Events
- 8 January – Russia sought to widen its ban on the importation of Irish beef due to Bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
- 27 February – The law providing for divorce came into effect.
- 6 March – Michael Lowry resigned as a member of the Fine Gael party.
- 7 March – President Mary Robinson met Pope John Paul II in the Vatican.
- 17 March – The new national independent radio station, Radio Ireland, went on the air.
- 8 April – Author Frank McCourt was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his book Angela's Ashes.
- 6 June – In the general election, Fianna Fáil won a plurality of seats and formed a coalition government with the Progressive Democrats. Bertie Ahern replaced John Bruton as Taoiseach, and Mary Harney of the Progressive Democrats became Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade, and Employment.
- 12 June – President Mary Robinson was appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
- 16 June – National University of Ireland, Maynooth came into existence with the commencement of the Universities Act, 1997.
- 25 June – Film makers arrived for two months of shooting at Curracloe, County Wexford to re-create the D-Day Normandy invasion scenes for Steven Spielberg's film Saving Private Ryan.[1]
- 3 July – Taoiseach Bertie Ahern met United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair for the first time.
- 6–11 July – 1997 nationalist riots in Northern Ireland: There was violence in nationalist areas after an Orange Order parade was allowed down the Garvaghy Road by the Royal Ulster Constabulary in Portadown as part of the Drumcree conflict.
- 9 July – Counsel for Charles Haughey admitted that the former Taoiseach accepted £1.3 million from businessman Ben Dunne.
- 20 July – The Irish Republican Army instituted a second ceasefire.
- 12 September – Mary Robinson resigned as President to assume her new role as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
- 18 September – The converted Collins Barracks re-opened to house the National Museum of Ireland's Decorative Arts and History collections.[2]
- 7 October – Substantial all-party talks began in Northern Ireland.
- 1 November – The Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act, 1997, took effect.
- 7 November – Dick Spring confirmed that he was resigning as leader of the Labour Party.
- 11 November – Mary McAleese was inaugurated as the eighth President of Ireland, the first time in the world that one woman succeeded another as elected head of state.
- 13 November – Ruairi Quinn won the leadership of the Labour Party.
- 27 December – The Loyalist Volunteer Force leader Billy Wright was shot dead in the Maze prison by members of the Irish National Liberation Army.
Arts and literature
- 3 May – Ireland staged the Eurovision Song Contest, hosted by Ronan Keating and Carrie Crowley. The Irish entry, Mysterious Woman sung by Marc Roberts, came second.
- 4 July – Conor McPherson's play The Weir premièred at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in London.
- 13 July – Neil Jordan's film The Butcher Boy is released in Ireland.
- 24 November – The first episode aired of the RTÉ television programme, A Scare at Bedtime.
- 31 December – Jim Sheridan's film The Boxer was released, starring Daniel Day-Lewis.
- Raidió Teilifís Éireann rebranded its television channel Network 2 as "N2".
- John Banville's novel The Untouchable was published.
Sport
Gaelic games
- Kerry won the National Football League, beating Cork 3–7 to 1–8 in the final.
- Kerry won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship winners for the first time since 1986, following a 0–13 to 1–7 victory over Mayo in the final.
- Limerick beat Galway 1–12 to 1–9 in the National Hurling League final.
- Clare beat Tipperary by 0–20 to 2–13 in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final. It was their second title in three years.
Golf
- The Murphy's Irish Open was won by Colin Montgomerie (Scotland).
Snooker
- Ken Doherty became world snooker champion following an 18 frames to 12 victory over Stephen Hendry at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield.
Soccer
- Shelbourne FC won the FAI Cup for the fifth time.
- The first ever League of Ireland match to be broadcast live on television was from Tolka Park between Shelbourne F.C. and Derry City F.C. on Network 2.
Births
- 15 January – Alex Cardillo, actor
Full date unknown
- Aebh Kelly, singer
Deaths
January to June
- 31 January – John Joseph Scanlan, second Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu (born 1906).
- 2 February – Seán Ó Síocháin, former Gaelic Athletic Association president.
- February – Reg Ryan, soccer player (born 1925).
- 17 April – Chaim Herzog, sixth President of Israel (1983–1993) (born 1918).
- 12 March – William Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel, peer and Labour politician (born 1906).
- 2 May – Robin Kinahan, Unionist politician and businessman (born 1916).
- 9 May – Thomas FitzGerald, Earl of Offaly (born 1974).
- 23 May – Noel Browne, politician and former Cabinet Minister (born 1915).
- 24 May – Edward Mulhare, actor (born 1923).
- 16 June – Michael O'Herlihy, television director (born 1929).
- 18 June – Julia Clifford, fiddle player and traditional musician (born 1914).
July to December
- 25 September – Jim Kemmy, Labour Party and Democratic Socialist Party TD (born 1936).
- 20 December – Jim Gibbons, former Fianna Fáil TD, Member of the European Parliament and Cabinet Minister (born 1924).
- 29 December – John Graham, Irish Republican Army activist in the 1940s (born 1915).
Full date unknown
- Mervyn Wall, novelist and dramatist (born 1908).
References
- ↑ Movies you never knew were filmed in Ireland Irish Central, 2011-08-22.
- Filming 'Saving Private Ryan' at Curracloe Beach RTÉ Archives, 2013-07-03. (Text and video.)
- Ryan's slaughter Irish Independent, 1998-08-03.
- How we made the best movie battle scene ever Irish Independent, 2006-06-07.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.