1996 in Ireland

← 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1996 in Ireland → 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
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See also:	1996 in Northern Ireland Other events of 1996 List of years in Ireland

Events from the year 1996 in Ireland.

Incumbents

• President: Mary Robinson
• Taoiseach: John Bruton (FG)

Events

• 24 January – The international body proposed six principles of democracy and non-violence ('the Mitchell principles') as conditions for entry to all-party talks in Northern Ireland.
• 5 February – The Football Association of Ireland appointed Mick McCarthy as manager of the Irish football team.
• 9 February – A large Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb exploded in the London Docklands area, near Canary Wharf, injuring around forty, and marking the end of a 17-month IRA ceasefire.^[1][2]
• 11 March – The Hepatitis Tribunal opened in Dublin.
• 6 June – President Mary Robinson became the first serving Irish president to visit the United Kingdom and to meet a British monarch when she visited Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in 1993.^[3]
• 7 June – Detective Garda Jerry McCabe was shot dead by the IRA in Adare, County Limerick.
• 17 June – The Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland was signed into law, repealing the absolute constitutional prohibition of divorce under the terms of the Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1995.
• 26 June – Crime reporter Veronica Guerin was shot dead in her car in Dublin.
• 25 September – The last Magdalene asylum closed, in Waterford.^[4]
• 29 November – It was revealed that Dunnes Stores paid £208,000 for an extension to Minister Michael Lowry's house.
• 13 December – On the opening day of a Dublin summit, EU leaders achieved a breakthrough in the argument over preparations for a single European currency.
• 23 December – French film-maker Sophie Toscan du Plantier was murdered outside her holiday home in Schull, County Cork.^[5]

Arts and literature

• 11 February – The television drama series Ballykissangel first aired. It was made by BBC Northern Ireland and set in a rural Irish community.
• 18 May – Ireland won the Eurovision Song Contest for the seventh time with The Voice, sung by Eimear Quinn and composed by Brendan Graham.
• 7 August – Marie Jones' play Stones in His Pockets was premiered in Belfast.
• 26 September – Enda Walsh's play Disco Pigs was premiered by the Corcadorca Theatre Company at the Triskel Arts Centre in Cork.^[6]
• 31 October – Ireland's first Irish language television station, Teilifís na Gaeilge (TnaG), was launched. On 3 November the soap opera Ros na Rún was first aired on the channel.
• 6 November – The film Michael Collins was shown in Cork and Dublin.
• The following novels were published:
  • Evening Class by Maeve Binchy.
  • Reading in the Dark by Seamus Deane.
  • Headbanger by Hugo Hamilton.
  • Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married by Marian Keyes.
  • The Story of the Night by Colm Tóibín.

Sport

Gaelic football

• Meath GAA beat Mayo in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final, after a replay, to win their first title since 1988.

Golf

• Murphy's Irish Open was won by Colin Montgomerie (Scotland).

Hurling

• Wexford GAA beat Limerick GAA in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final. It was their first senior All-Ireland since 1968.

Olympics

• Swimmer Michelle Smith won three gold medals and one bronze in the Atlanta Olympics.

Soccer

• St Patrick's Athletic won the League of Ireland
• Shelbourne won the FAI Cup

Boxing

• 9 March - Steve Collins, "The Celtic Warrior", successfully defended his WBO super middleweight title against Neville Brown at the Green Glens Arena, Millstreet, County Cork.^[7]

Deaths

January to June

• 8 January – Joyce McCartan, community activist.
• 12 February – James Camlin Beckett, historian.
• 18 February – Cathal Ó Sándair, writer (born 1922).
• 9 March – Ollie Walsh, Kilkenny hurler (born 1937).
• 5 April – Gerard L'Estange, member of the Seanad, Fine Gael TD.
• 22 April – Molly Keane, novelist and playwright (born 1904).
• 24 April – Tomás de Bhaldraithe, Irish language scholar and lexicographer (born 1916).
• 9 June – Patrick Flynn, Liberal Party of Canada MP (born 1921).
• 10 June – Peter Raftery, diplomat.
• 26 June – Veronica Guerin, journalist, murdered by drug dealers (born 1958).

July to December

• 9 July – Christopher Casson, actor (born 1912).
• 16 July – Joe Dunn, Roman Catholic priest and broadcaster.
• 6 August – Havelock Nelson, composer and pianist (born 1917).
• 18 August – Charles Mitchel, actor and television newsreader, read the first Telefís Éireann news bulletin in 1961 (born 1920).
• 25 August – Erskine Barton Childers, diplomat writer and broadcaster, son of President Childers (born 1929).
• August – Kathleen Mills, camogie player (born 1923).
• 11 November – Liam Naughten, Fine Gael politician, Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann from 1995 until his death. (born 1944).
• 24 November – Michael O'Hehir, sports commentator and journalist (born 1920).

Full date unknown

• Seán 'ac Dhonncha, traditional singer (born 1919).

References

1. Edwards, Aaron (2011). The Northern Ireland Troubles. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-84908-525-0.
2. "1996: Docklands bomb ends IRA ceasefire". BBC News. 10 February 1996. Archived from the original on 1 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
3. President’s State visit to UK opens up ‘limitless opportunities’ Irish Times, 2013-11-18.
4. Ryan, Carol (25 May 2011). "Irish Church's Forgotten Victims Take Case to U.N.". The New York Times.
5. West Cork is braced for new moves in case that shattered its peace The Guardian, 2010-07-03.
6. "Playography Ireland". Dublin: Irish Theatre Institute. Retrieved 2015-04-11.
7. "Steve Collins". BoxRec. Retrieved 2012-04-06.