istoryworld
Events relating to ireland
Britain's Margaret Thatcher and Ireland's Garret FitzGerald sign an Anglo-Irish Agreement to tackle shared problems
Mary Robinson is elected president of the republic of Ireland, the first woman to hold the post
Irish author Brian Friel's play Dancing at Lughnasa has its premiere at the Abbey Theatre
Irish author Roddy Doyle publishes a novel that wins the Booker Prize, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
UK and Irish premiers John Major and Albert Reynolds sign the Downing Street Declaration, a strategy for peace in Nothern Ireland
The IRA declares a cease-fire in Northern Ireland, a gesture followed a month later by Protestant paramilitaries
Divorce is legalized in the republic of Ireland
Riverdance, based on traditional Irish step dancing, is presented first as an entertainment in the Eurovision Song Contest
Irish author Marina Carr's play Portia Coughlin is performed at the Abbey Theatre
Irish author Martin McDonagh's play The Beauty Queen of Leenane is the first in a trilogy
Bertie Ahern, leader of Fianna Fáil, becomes the prime minister (Taoiseach) of the republic of Ireland
The Real IRA, a splinter group of the Provisional IRA, declares its commitment to a continuing campaign of violence
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
The republic of Ireland is the fastest growing economy in the EU, with a GDP growth of more than 10%
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
Bertie Ahern and the Fianna Fáil win their third successive general election victory in Ireland
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
