2006 in Ireland

Incumbents

• President: Mary McAleese
• Taoiseach: Bertie Ahern
• Tánaiste:
• * Mary Harney
• * Michael McDowell
• Minister for Finance: Brian Cowen
• Chief Justice: John L. Murray
• Dáil: 29th
• Seanad: 22nd

  Events

• January – a gay Gorey town councillor is targeted by a vicious hate campaign which outs him in a local newspaper.
• 9 January – Steve Staunton is appointed the new manager of the Republic of Ireland football team, to be mentored by Bobby Robson as International Football Consultantant.
• 17 January – the GAA, FAI and IRFU announce that a deal has been reached which will allow soccer and rugby to be played in Croke Park.
• 30 January – postal workers enter a 20-day wildcat strike disrupting most of Belfast's delivery service
• 14 February – the 25th Anniversary of the Stardust Disaster, in which 48 young people died, is remembered by the families of the survivors.
• 25 February – Rioting in Dublin as Republican protestors condemn the right for a "Love Ulster" parade in the city.
• 11 March – the last ever competitive rugby international takes place at the oldest rugby venue in the world, Lansdowne Road, after 128 years of use, before the ground is redeveloped.
• 17 March – over 400,000 people take to the streets of Dublin to celebrate St. Patrick's Day as part of the world's largest St. Patrick's Day Festival.
• 16 April – up to 120,000 people line the streets of Dublin to mark the 90th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising.
• 23 April – the 2006 census takes place in the Republic of Ireland.
• 26 April – Prince Philip of the United Kingdom meets President Mary McAleese and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern on a visit to Dublin.
• 14 May – Fianna Fáil celebrates its 80th anniversary with a day of celebrations at the Mansion House, Dublin.
• 15 May – the members of the Northern Ireland Assembly are recalled 3½ years after the assembly was suspended, with a view to electing an executive, and having the suspension lifted
• 21 May – armed Gardaí forcibly remove thirty Afghan refugees who had sought sanctuary in St. Patrick's cathedral, Dublin after a one-week hunger-strike
• 22 May – Belfast City airport is renamed George Best Belfast City Airport on what would have been George Best's 60th birthday.
• 24 May – Prime Minister of Australia John Howard formally addresses Dáil Éireann.
• 16 June – the state funeral of the former Taoiseach Charles Haughey takes place in Dublin.
• 18 June – Irish Government announces plans to spend €3.8 billion on scientific research over 7 years to grow world-class research capabilities.
• 1 July – President Mary McAleese and leading representatives of all political parties in Ireland, north and south, mark the 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme at the Irish National War Memorial Gardens, Dublin
• 7 July – Dublin Airport is evacuated for the second time in a week when an abandoned suspect package is found.
• 19 July – the warmest temperature this century is recorded at Elphin, County Roscommon – 32.3 °C. Ireland is one of many countries affected by the 2006 European heat wave. July 2006 is the warmest, on average, since records began in both the Republic and Northern Ireland.
• 19 July – CSO preliminary 2006 census findings indicate that the population of the Republic of Ireland is 4,234,925 million, an increase of 8.6% since 2002 and at its highest since the 1861 census. The total population for the island now stands at just under 6 million.
• 1 September – 150th anniversary of the birth of John Redmond, Leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party.
• 7 September – Mary Harney resigns as leader of the Progressive Democrats. She has led the party since October 1993.
• 11 September – Michael McDowell becomes, by consensus, leader of the Progressive Democrats
• 18 October – Northern Ireland overtake the Republic of Ireland in the Fifa rankings for the first time.
• 24 November – Loyalist Michael Stone, attempts to bomb the NI Assembly on the day nominations for first and deputy first minister are due to be made.
• 14 December – Zappone v. Revenue Commissioners decided in the High Court: a same-sex marriage in British Columbia is not recognised as a same-sex marriage in the Republic of Ireland.
• 20 December – Dublin Port Tunnel officially opened.

  Arts and literature

• 5 January – The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, a young people's novel by John Boyne, is published.
• 2 March – , an historical novel by Edward Rutherfurd, is published.
• June – Ciaran Creagh's play Last Call, based loosely on the hanging of murderer Michael Manning in 1954 as witnessed by the playwright's father, is staged in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, where it is set.
• 13 June – Colm Tóibín's novel The Master wins the International Dublin Literary Award. He is the first Irish writer to win. His short story collection Mothers and Sons is published this year.
• 26 July – Sesquicentennial anniversary of the birth of George Bernard Shaw.
• Autumn – Irish language teen drama series Aifric debuts on TG4 television.
• John Banville publishes his first crime novel under the pen name Benjamin Black, Christine Falls.

  Music

Sport

Association football

• Setanta Cup
• *Winners: Drogheda United
• League of Ireland
• *Winners: Shelbourne
• FAI Cup
• *Winners: Derry City

  Athletics

• Ireland's Derval O'Rourke wins the women's 60m hurdles at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships, setting a new national record in the event, and becoming the first Irish woman to win an international senior sprint medal at this level.

  Gaelic games

Golf

• Europe won the 2006 Ryder Cup, held in Kildare Golf and Country Club, Straffan, Co. Kildare from 22 to 24 September.
• Nissan Irish Open is won by Thomas Bjørn.

  Mountaineering

• Ian McKeever climbed the 26 peaks of the island of Ireland in 98 hours.

  Olympic Games

• The Republic of Ireland sent four athletes to the Winter Olympics, held in Turin, Italy.

  Rugby union

• RBS Six Nations Championship
• *Ireland 26–16 Italy
• * France 43–31 Ireland
• *Ireland 31–5 Wales
• *Ireland 15–9 Scotland
• *England 24–28 Ireland

• 2005–06 Heineken Cup
• *Munster and Leinster both progress from the group stages. They play each other in the semi-finals, with Munster claiming victory. Munster then win the championship, defeating Biarritz 23 – 19

  Deaths

• 2 April – Paddy Crowley, soccer player.
• 4 April – Denis Donaldson, former member of Sinn Féin who was exposed in 2005 as an MI5 spy.
• 4 April – John de Courcy Ireland, maritime historian and political activist.
• 25 April – John Kerr, singer.
• 11 May – Michael O'Leary, former Tánaiste and Labour Party leader.
• 13 May – Desmond Surfleet, cricketer.
• 16 May – Clare Boylan, author, journalist and critic.
• 18 May – Michael O'Riordan, veteran of the Spanish Civil War and founder of the Communist Party of Ireland.
• 26 May – Kevin O'Flanagan, physician, rugby and soccer player and Olympic official.
• 19 May – Shay Gibbons, former international soccer player.
• 10 June – Bobby Miller, Gaelic footballer and manager.
• 13 June – Charles Haughey, former Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil.
• 18 June – Luke Belton, former Fine Gael TD.
• 20 June – Michael Herbert, former Fianna Fáil TD and MEP.
• 21 June – Denis Faul, monsignor, Northern Ireland civil rights activist, chaplain to prisoners in Maze Prison during 1981 Irish Hunger Strike.
• 30 June – Dave P. Tyndall, Jr., businessman.

• 5 July – Lewis Glucksman, businessman, philanthropist, patron of the Lewis Glucksman Gallery at UCC.
• 7 July – Mícheál Ó Domhnaill, folk and traditional musician.
• 8 July – Michael Barrett, former Fianna Fáil TD.
• 12 July – Noel Sheridan, 70, actor, artist, Director National College of Art and Design.
• 12 July – Joe Langan, 63, former Mayo Gaelic footballer.
• 23 July – Vere Wynne-Jones, 56, RTÉ broadcaster.
• 28 July – Billy Walsh, soccer player and manager.
• 14 August – John Godley, 3rd Baron Kilbracken, author and journalist.
• 17 August – Ken Goodall, international rugby player.
• 14 September – Seán Ó Tuama, 80, writer and academic.
• 18 September – Seán Clancy, veteran of the Irish War of Independence.
• 20 September – Tommy Traynor, soccer player.
• September – Mick Haughney, Laois Gaelic footballer.

• 2 October – Thomas J. Fitzpatrick, former Ceann Comhairle and Fine Gael TD and Cabinet Minister.
• 5 October – Jarlath Carey, 74, former Down Gaelic footballer.
• 10 October – Ham Lambert, cricketer and rugby player.
• 16 October – Niall Andrews, Fianna Fáil TD and MEP.
• 18 October – Liam Bennett, 55, former Wexford hurler.
• 9 November – Sam Stephenson, architect.
• 16 November – Frank Durkan, lawyer in the United States.
• 18 November – Roger Bolton, trade unionist in UK.
• 4 December – Andy O'Brien, Fine Gael senator from County Cavan..
• 16 December – Tony O'Shaughnessy, former Cork hurler.

• Seán Ó Coisdealbha, poet, playwright and actor.
• Jimmy Phelan, Kilkenny hurler.