1998 in Northern Ireland

← 1997 1996 1995 1998 in Northern Ireland → 1999 2000 2001
Centuries:	20th 21st
Decades:	1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
See also:	1998 in the United Kingdom 1998 in Ireland Other events of 1998 List of years in Northern Ireland

Events during the year 1998 in Northern Ireland .

Incumbents

• First Minister - David Trimble (from 1 July)
• Deputy First Minister - Seamus Mallon (from 1 July)
• Secretary of State - Mo Mowlam

Events

• 9 January - British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam, visits loyalist prisoners in the Maze prison. Afterward loyalists agree to attend the Stormont talks. ^[1]
• 20 February - Sinn Féin is excluded from the Northern Ireland talks for two weeks. Protests in Belfast follow. ^[2]
• 10 April (Good Friday) - The British and Irish governments and all the political parties in the Northern Ireland (except the Democratic Unionist Party) sign the Belfast Agreement. ^{[3] [4] [5]}
• 19 May - John Hume and David Trimble join U2 on stage in Belfast as they make a direct appeal to young voters in Northern Ireland to vote 'yes' in the referendum on the Good Friday Agreement. ^[6]
• 22 May - The Belfast Agreement is endorsed in a referendum by people north and south of the border. ^[7]
• 25 June - The people of Northern Ireland go to the polls to elect a new Assembly.
• June - Crumlin Road Courthouse is closed and the site is eventually sold to a private developer. ^[8]
• 1 July - The new Northern Ireland Assembly first meets, in "shadow" form; Reg Empey and Seamus Mallon are elected First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively.
• 12 July - Drumcree conflict: Three young children are killed in a loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force arson attack in Ballymoney. ^[9]
• 15 August - Omagh bombing: 29 people die in a car bomb explosion near the centre of Omagh, County Tyrone, caused by the Real Irish Republican Army. ^[10]
• 3 September - Bill Clinton, President of the United States, visits Omagh and views the bomb damage. ^[11]
• 16 October - John Hume and David Trimble are announced as the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 6 November - David Trimble returns as First Minister in succession to Reg Empey.
• 10 December - John Hume and David Trimble are presented with the Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo, Norway.

Arts and literature

• Malachi O'Doherty's study The Trouble With Guns: Republican Strategy and the Provisional IRA is published.

Sport

Football

• Irish League

Winners: Cliftonville

• Irish Cup

Winners: Glentoran 1 - 0 Glenavon (after extra time).

Motorcycling

• Robert Dunlop wins the Ultra-Lightweight race at the Isle of Man TT.

Deaths

• 2 September - Jackie Blanchflower, footballer (b.1933).
• 13 November - Valerie Hobson, actress (b.1917).

Full date unknown

• Sean McAloon, Uilleann piper and pipe maker (b.1923).

See also

• 1998 in England
• 1998 in Scotland
• 1998 in Wales

References

1. Archer, Bimpe (2018-01-10). "Anniversary of day Mo Mowlam visited the Maze to persuade prisoners to try peace". The Irish News. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
2. "BBC News | UK | Sinn Fein suspended from peace talks". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
3. "The Belfast Agreement/Good Friday Agreement 1998 | Northern Ireland Assembly Education Service". education.niassembly.gov.uk. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
4. Fenton, Siobhan (2018-05-24). The Good Friday Agreement. Biteback Publishing. ISBN   978-1-78590-382-3.
5. Morrissey, M.; Smyth, Marie Breen (2002). Northern Ireland After the Good Friday Agreement: Victims, Grievance and Blame. Pluto Press. ISBN   978-0-7453-1673-4.
6. Tannam, Etain (October 2001). "Explaining the Good Friday Agreement: A Learning Process". Government and Opposition. 36 (4): 493–518. doi:10.1111/1477-7053.00078. S2CID   145060015.
7. "The Belfast Agreement". heinonline.org. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
8. "UAH calls for Stormont to repossess Crumlin Road Courthouse". UAH. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
9. "1998: Children die in Drumcree protests". BBC News. 12 July 1998. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
10. Collins, Sean (March 2001). "What about us? The psychological implications of dealing with trauma following the Omagh bombing". Emergency Nurse. 8 (10): 9–13. doi:10.7748/en.8.10.9.s13. PMID   11935824. ProQuest   218277646.
11. Edwards, Ruth Dudley (2013-09-30). Aftermath: The Omagh Bombing and the Families' Pursuit of Justice. Random House. ISBN   978-1-4464-8578-1.