1999 in Ireland

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Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
See also:	1999 in Northern Ireland Other events of 1999 List of years in Ireland

Events from the year 1999 in Ireland.

Incumbents

• President: Mary McAleese
• Taoiseach: Bertie Ahern (FF)
• Tánaiste: Mary Harney (PD)
• Chief Justice: Liam Hamilton
• Dáil: 28th

Events

• 4 January – The Euro makes its debut on European financial markets.
• 13 January – Derek Hill becomes the eleventh honorary citizen of Ireland.
• 5 February – New legislation changes the name of the RSI No to the Personal Public Service Number and expands its use.
• 31 March – The Irish Land Commission is dissolved.
• April – Senator George Mitchell Peace Bridge opened across the Border.
• 27 April – States of Fear television series made by Mary Raftery for RTÉ begins broadcasting. Its revelations of a history of institutional child abuse lead to questions being raised in the Dáil^[1] and an apology to victims from the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, and appointment of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse in May.
• 21 May – Gay Byrne hosts his last Late Late Show after 37 years.
• 22 May – The electorate of the entire island of Ireland go to the polls to vote on the Good Friday Agreement.
• 23 May – People North and South give their overwhelming support to the Good Friday Agreement.
• 17 June - UEFA punishes the Football Association of Ireland with a fine of £25,000.^[2]
• 11 August – Ireland joins the world and watches the last solar eclipse of the millennium.
• 28 August – 80,000 fans see the Robbie Williams concert at Slane Castle, County Meath.
• 12 October – Peter Mandelson arrives in Belfast as the new Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
• 20 October – President McAleese leads tributes to the former Taoiseach Jack Lynch who died aged 82.
• November – Remaining prohibition orders made under the Censorship of Publications Acts relating to contraception or termination of pregnancy are lifted.^[3]
• 28 November – A bright fireball passed over Leighlinbridge, County Carlow accompanied by detonations. Four stone meteorite fragments totaling 271.4 g were found afterwards and were classified as ordinary chondrites.^[4]
• 29 November – Ten designated ministers are appointed to the power-sharing Northern Ireland Assembly.
• 2 December
  • The Irish Government ratifies changes to Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution. Direct rule from Westminster in Northern Ireland ends.
  • Foras na Gaeilge is established as an agency of The North/South Language Body under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement to promote the Irish language throughout the island of Ireland, assuming the roles of Bord na Gaeilge, An Gúm and An Coiste Téarmaíochta, previously state bodies of the Government of Ireland.
• 13 December – The first meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council takes place in Armagh.
• Inez McCormack of UNISON becomes the first woman President of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.^[5]

Arts and literature

• 10 April – Sligo boyband Westlife release their first single, Swear It Again, the first of seven which will go straight to the number one in the UK Singles Chart.
• 6 October – Frank McGuinness's drama Dolly West's Kitchen is premiered at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin.^[6]
• 1 November – Westlife release their first album, five singles from which will go to number one in the UK Singles Chart.
• Colm Tóibín's novel The Blackwater Lightship is published.

Sport

Gaelic football

• Meath GAA beat Cork GAA 1–11 to 1–8 to win their second All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in four years.

Golf

• Murphy's Irish Open is won by Sergio García (Spain).

Hurling

• Cork GAA beat Kilkenny GAA 0–13 to 0–12 to win the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship for the first time since 1990.

Soccer

• St Patrick's Athletic win the League of Ireland for the 3rd time in 4 years.

Deaths

January to June

• 15 January – Robert Lowry, Baron Lowry, Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland (b. 1919).
• 28 January – Markey Robinson, artist (b. 1918).
• 8 February – Iris Murdoch, novelist and philosopher (b. 1919).
• 22 February – Pat Upton, Labour Party TD (b. 1944).
• 25 April – William McCrea, astronomer and mathematician (b. 1904).
• 25 April – Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin, journalist, author, sports official and sixth president of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1914).
• 11 May – Birdy Sweeney, actor (b. 1931).
• 19 May – Victor Bewley, cafe proprietor (b. 1913).
• 23 May – Cathal Gannon, harpsichord maker and fortepiano restorer (b. 1910).
• 15 June – Fred Tiedt, boxer (b. 1935).

July to December

• 17 July – Donal McCann, actor (b. 1943).
• 27 July – Malachi Martin, Roman Catholic priest and author (b. 1921).
• 21 August – Noel Larmour, cricketer and diplomat (b. 1916).
• 21 August – Maurice Gerard Moynihan, civil servant and writer (b. 1902).
• 24 August – Eithne Strong, poet.
• 4 September – Raonaid Murray, victim of an unsolved murder (b. 1982).
• 13 October – Michael Hartnett, poet (b. 1941).
• 15 October – Josef Locke, tenor (b. 1917).
• 20 October – Jack Lynch, former Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil (b. 1917).
• October – Micheál Cranitch, Fianna Fáil politician, Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann in 1973. (b. 1912).
• 14 November – Brian Ó Cuív, son-in-law of Éamon de Valera, Celtic scholar and author.
• 29 November – Michael O'Halloran, politician in the UK (b. 1933).
• 30 December – Tom Aherne, soccer player (b. 1919).

Full date unknown

• Manliff Barrington, motorcycle racer (b. 1910).
• Áine Ní Cheanainn, educationalist (b. 1907).

References

1. Dáil adjournment comments, 29 April 1999
2. "Ireland fined £25,000 for cancelled Yugoslavia match". RTÉ News. 17 June 1999.
3. Iris Oifigiúil 7 March 2000.
4. Leighlinbridge The Meteoritical Society. Retrieved: 2013-02-16.
5. O'Toole, Fintan (2012-07-06). "First Among Unequals". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2012-07-06.
6. "Dolly West's Kitchen". Playography Ireland. Dublin: Irish Theatre Institute. Retrieved 2015-06-30.

External links

• 1999 at Reeling in the Years