A proposed referendum on northern Irish issues is accepted by all the relevant political parties in what becomes known as the Good Friday Agreement

In the referendum to endorse the Good Friday Agreement, the terms are accepted by majorities in both the republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland

The Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble becomes First Minister of the newly convened Northern Ireland Assembly

The Real IRA kills 26 people and injures about 200 with a bomb planted in Omagh, in northern Ireland

A translation by Irish author Seamus Heaney brings many new readers to the Old English poem Beowulf

The new Northern Ireland Assembly is suspended because of IRA failure to decommission arms

Ian Paisley's hard-line Democratic Unionist Party wins in elections to the suspended Northern Ireland Assembly

The Provisional IRA announces a formal end to armed conflict and orders units to dump all their weapons

Devolved government returns to Northern Ireland, with Ian Paisley as first minister and Martin McGuinness as his deputy

Elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly bring the same result as in 2003, with extremist rivals DUP and Sinn Fein the dominant parties

Long-term enemies Ian Paisley (DUP) and Gerry Adams (Sinn Fein) agree to share power in a reconvened Northern Ireland Assembly

Ian Paisley announces that he will stand down as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party and First Minister of Northern Ireland

Peter Robinson, elected unopposed as leader of the DUP, succeeds Ian Paisley as First Minister of Northern Ireland

In a historic visit to Northern Ireland the British Queen makes a profound gesture of reconciliation, shaking hands with former IRA commander Martin McGuinness