1998 in Ireland - Definition and Overview

See also: 1997 in Ireland, other events of 1998, 1999 in Ireland and the list of 'years in Ireland'.

Events

• January 1 - The VECs of the towns of Bray, Drogheda, Sligo, Tralee and Wexford are abolished.
• January 9 - British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam, visits loyalist prisoners in the Maze prison. Afterwards loyalists agree to attend the Stormont talks.
• January 14 - The Planning Tribunal opens in Dublin Castle.
• February 20 - Sinn Féin is excluded from the Northern Ireland talks for two weeks.
• February 27 - Ireland qualifies for entry into the European Monetary Union.
• February 28 - the actor and comedian Dermot Morgan dies suddenly in London.
• March 15 - Former Fine Gael Minister Hugh Coveney dies in a fall from a cliff in County Cork.
• April 10 - Good Friday: the British and Irish governments and all the Northern parties sign an historic peace agreement.
• May 7 - The Irish youth football under-16 team wins the European Championship.
• May 19 - John Hume and David Trimble join U2 on stage in Belfast as they make a direct appeal to young voters in the North to vote 'yes' in the referendum on the Good Friday Agreement.
• May 22 - The Good Friday Agreement is endorsed in a referendum by people North and South.
• June 25 - The people of Northern Ireland go to the polls to elect a new Assembley.
• August 6 - Olympic gold medalist Michelle de Bruin is banned from competition for four years for tampering with a drug test.
• August 15 - At least 21 people die in a bomb explosion near the centre of Omagh, County Tyrone.
• September 3 - President Clinton of the United States visits Omagh and views the bomb damage.
• September 20 - TV3 Ireland goes on the air.
• October 16 - John Hume and David Trimble are announced as the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.
• November 30 - Unemployment falls by 20% with the number of people in work rising by 100,000.
• December 10 - John Hume and David Trimble are presented with the Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo, Norway.
• December 12 - Members of the Labour Party and Democratic Left agree to merge
• December 24 - Gay Byrne broadcasts his final radio show from St. Stephen's Green.
• December 31 - The Irish Punt is traded for the last time as the Euro currency is launched.

Arts and literature

Sports

Births

Deaths

• February 28 - Dermot Morgan, comedian.
• June 23 - Maureen O'Sullivan, actress.
• August - Liam de Paor, historian.
• November 11 - Paddy Clancy, folk singer.