1984 in Ireland - Events

Events

• 1 January
  • Department of Posts and Telegraphs split into An Post and Telecom Éireann.
  • Galway City begins celebrations marking its mayoral status granted by King Richard III in 1484.
• 10 January – Seán MacEntee, founder member of Fianna Fáil and former Tánaiste, dies aged 94. He was the last surviving member of the First Dáil.
• 30 January – Luke Kelly of The Dubliners dies aged 43.
• 31 January – Ann Lovett, aged 15, dies after giving birth to a baby boy in a grotto in Granard, County Longford. Reporting of this incident on The Gay Byrne Show uncovers many stories from listeners of rape, abortion and sexual abuse.
• 14 March – Sinn Féin MP Gerry Adams is shot and wounded in Belfast.
• 2 May – The New Ireland Forum publishes its report presenting three possibilities for discussion: a unitary Irish state, a federal/confederal state and joint sovereignty.
• 22 May – The village of Ballyporeen, County Tipperary prepares for the visit of US President Ronald Reagan.
• 3 – 10 June 000 people take part in an anti-Reagan march in Dublin.
• 4 June – President Reagan addresses a joint session of the houses of the Oireachtas.
• 18 June – European Parliament elections are held in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
• 14 July – Columban missionary Fr Niall O'Brien, who was imprisoned in the Philippines, is released.
• 17 July – Some workers in Dunnes Stores, Henry Street, Dublin refuse to handle South African produce as a protest against apartheid.
• 23 July – The DART rail service between Howth and Bray is introduced.
• 28 September – The Dublin telephone system collapses due to network overload as a result of a phone-in competition on an illegal radio station.
• 1 October – The University of Ulster is presented with a Royal Charter by Elizabeth II.
• 5 October – In Dublin, women workers in Dunnes Stores, who have been on strike for the past 11 weeks in support of a dispute over the handling of South African fruit, begin a sit-in at the store.
• 12 October – The IRA kills five people in a bomb attack at the Grand Hotel, Brighton, during the Conservative Party conference.
• 22 October – Brother Edmund Ignatius Rice Bridge across the River Suir at Waterford is opened to road traffic.
• 5 November – First broadcast of the RTÉ Radio morning current affairs program Morning Ireland
• 14 November – Irish Shipping Limited placed into liquidation
• 8 November – RTÉ's first newsreader, Charles Mitchel, reads his last news bulletin.
• 2 December – European Economic Community heads of government visit President Hillery and Mrs Hillery at Áras an Uachtaráin.
• 7 December – The most sophisticated naval vessel ever built in the country, the £25 million LÉ Eithne, is commissioned at the Haulbowline naval base.
• The Ford motor car and Dunlop tyre factories in Cork close.