2003 in Ireland

Events from the year 2003 in Ireland.

Incumbents

• President: Mary McAleese (Independent)
• Taoiseach: Bertie Ahern (Fianna Fáil)

Events

• 21 January – The Spire of Dublin on O'Connell Street was officially completed.
• 16 February – 100,000 people in Dublin, and 30,000 in Belfast marched to express their opposition to the imminent invasion of Iraq.
• 7 April – President Bush of the United States arrived in Northern Ireland for discussuions with British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. He also met Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, and the leaders of the pro-agreement parties.
• 21 June – The 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games were opened by the former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, in Croke Park, Dublin.
• 31 August – The remains of Belfast mother Jean McConville were found 31 years after she was abducted and murdered by the Provisional IRA, who accused her of being a British Army agent.
• 15 September – For the first time the All-Ireland Football Final was contested by two teams from the same province. Tyrone were victorious over Armagh in the first All-Ulster Final.
• 27 November – The people of Northern Ireland went to the polls. The Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin made massive gains at the expense of more moderate unionist and nationalist parties.

Literature

• May – Claire Kilroy's debut novel All Summer was published.
• 25 November – The contents of Lissadell House in County Sligo were auctioned.
• Hugo Hamilton's memoir The Speckled People was published.
• Paul Murray's comic novel An Evening of Long Goodbyes was published.
• My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.

Music

Main article: 2003 in Irish music

Sport

Gaelic games

• All-Ireland Hurling Final – Kilkenny 1–14, Cork 1–11.
• All-Ireland Football Final – Tyrone 0–12, Armagh 0–9.

Golf

• Nissan Irish Open was won by Michael Campbell (New Zealand).

Rugby union

• Rugby World Cup – Ireland reached the quarter-finals of the competition before being beaten by France.
• 2003 Six Nations Championship: Ireland lost only to England, who won the tournament with a grand slam.
• 2002–03 Heineken Cup: Munster and Leinster advanced from the pool stage and both were defeated in the semi-finals. The final was played in Lansdowne Road.

Soccer

• The League of Ireland moved from a predominantly winter season to a Scandinavian style summer season. Bohemians won the transitional 2002/03 season and Shelbourne won the 2003 championship.

Deaths

January to June

• 8 January – Patrick Pery, 6th Earl of Limerick, peer and public servant (born 1930).
• 21 January – Tony O'Malley, painter (born 1913).
• 23 January – Aodhagán Brioscú, last surviving founder of Irish cultural organisation Gael Linn.
• 29 January – Mary Reid, one of the "Irish of Vincennes", falsely arrested in France on terrorism charges.
• 16 February – Seán Ó Cionnaith, Workers' Party of Ireland politician (born 1938).
• 25 February – Tom O'Higgins, barrister and judge, Irish Chief Justice, Fine Gael TD and twice defeated Irish presidential candidate (born 1916).
• 11 March – Brian Cleeve, writer and television broadcaster (born 1921).
• 17 March – Linda Kavanagh, Workers' Party activist and Dublin City Council member.
• 2 April – Pat Leavy, actress.
• 6 April – Ian Malone, member of British Army's Irish Guards, shot dead in Iraq (born 1974).
• 28 May – James Plunkett, novelist, author of Strumpet City. (born 1920).
• 30 June – Constance Smith, actress (born 1928).

July to September

• 16 July – James Kelly, former Irish Army officer cleared of attempting to import arms for the IRA in the 1970 Arms Trial (born 1929).
• 17 July – Eamonn Leahy, barrister and husband of Cabinet Minister Mary Hanafin.
• 28 July – Valerie Goulding, former Senator and campaigner for the disabled (born 1918).
• 3 August – Phil Monahan, founder of Monarch Properties Holdings Limited, leaving an estate worth €26.7 million.
• 12 August – Kieran Kelly, jump jockey after a racing accident (born 1978).
• 14 August – Donal Lamont, former Catholic Bishop in Rhodesia (born 1911).
• 19 August – Dennis Flynn, soldier in Canada, Chairman of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto (born 1923)
• 20 September – Liam Tobin, longtime Árd Rúnaí Roinn na Gaeltachta and Irish language campaigner
• 24 September – Tomás MacGabhann, trade unionist and Irish language activist
• 28 September – Proinsias Mac Aonghusa, journalist, broadcaster, chairman Bord na Gaeilge, president Conradh na Gaeilge (born 1933).

October to December

• 7 October – Frank Roe, former President of the Circuit Court.
• 16 October – Ernest Bodell, cricketer (born 1928).
• 10 December – Sean McClory, actor (born 1924).
• 12 December – John McConnell, economics expert, journalist and civil servant.
• 27 December – Patrick J. Reynolds, Fine Gael TD and Senator (born 1920).
• 30 December – Archbishop Michael Courtney Papal Nuncio to Burundi who was assassinated.
• 31 December – Gerald Goldberg, lawyer, Fianna Fáil politician and first Jewish Lord Mayor of Cork (born 1912).

External links

• 2003 at Reeling in the Years