1972 in Ireland - Events

Events

  • January 1 - The Central Bank of Ireland becomes the banker of the Government of Ireland in succession to the Bank of Ireland in accordance with the Central Bank Act 1971, completing its transition from a currency board to a fully operating central bank.
  • January 4 - John McQuaid retires after thirty years as Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin to be succeeded by Dermot Ryan. The ecclesiastical prohibition on Catholics entering Trinity College is relaxed.
  • January 22 - Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Patrick Hillery, sign the Treaty of Accession to the European Communities.
  • January 30 - Bloody Sunday: thirteen unarmed civilians are shot dead in Derry as British soldiers open fire on a banned civil rights march.
  • January 31 - Taoiseach Jack Lynch announces a national day of mourning following the events in Derry the previous day.
  • February 1 - Rioting takes place in Dublin. The British Embassy in Merrion Square is burned.
  • February 9 - A day of disruption takes place in Northern Ireland as people take to the streets in protest.
  • February 10 - The IRA announces a ceasefire.
  • February 12 - William Craig launches the Ulster Vanguard movement in Lisburn.
  • February 19 - The National Anti-EEC Committee organises a march along O'Connell Street.
  • February 26 - Crowds turn out to see Pelé and his club, Santos FC, play at Dalymount Park.
  • March 30 - UK Prime Minister Edward Heath dissolves the Stormont Parliament and imposes Direct Rule over Northern Ireland.
  • April 2 - RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta goes on the air.
  • April 17 - The government launches its European Economic Community referendum campaign.
  • May 5 - RTC, Carlow becomes the first Regional Technical College to install a computer - the computer is to be used for business and engineering courses and uses the Fortran and RPG languages and cost £10,000.
  • May 10 - In the referendum on Ireland's membership of the EEC the poll is almost five to one in favour.
  • June 13 - An Garda Síochána celebrates its 50th anniversary.
  • July 6 - Dmitri Shostakovich is presented with an honorary DMus degree at a ceremony in Trinity College Dublin.
  • July 12 - Over 2,000 refugees from Northern Ireland spend the marching season south of the border.
  • July 21 - Bloody Friday: 9 people die and over 100 are injured in a series of IRA explosions in Belfast city centre.
  • July 31
    • Operation Motorman, 4:00 : British Army begins to regain control of the "no-go areas" established by Irish republican paramilitaries in Belfast, Derry and Newry.
    • Claudy bombing (“Bloody Monday”), 10:00 : Three car bombs in Claudy, County Londonderry, kill nine. It becomes public knowledge only in 2010 that a local Catholic priest was an IRA officer believed to be involved in the bombings but his rôle was covered up by the authorities.
  • August 20 - Commemorations are held at Béal na mBláth, County Cork, to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Michael Collins.
  • September 25 - Darlington conference on the future of Northern Ireland opens.
  • December 13 - President Éamon de Valera signs documents covering Ireland's entry into the EEC.

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