1999 in Ireland

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Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
See also:	1999 in Northern Ireland Other events of 1999 List of years in Ireland

Events from the year 1999 in Ireland.

Incumbents

• President: Mary McAleese
• Taoiseach: Bertie Ahern (FF)
• Tánaiste: Mary Harney (PD)
• Minister for Finance: Charlie McCreevy (FF)
• Chief Justice: Liam Hamilton
• Dáil: 28th
• Seanad: 21st

Events

January

• 1 January – The Euro Currency officially entered circulation in the European Union (EU) Eurozone member area countries, then formally made its debut on European and the world financial markets.
• 13 January – Derek Hill became the eleventh honorary citizen of Ireland.

February

• 5 February – New legislation changed the name of the RSI Number to the Personal Public Service Number and expanded its use.

March

• 31 March – The Irish Land Commission was dissolved.

April

• April – Senator George Mitchell Peace Bridge opened across the Irish border.
• 27 April – The States of Fear television series, made by Mary Raftery for RTÉ, began broadcasting. Its revelations of a history of institutional child abuse led to questions being raised in the Dáil, ^[1] an apology to victims from the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, and the appointment of a Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse in May.

May

• 21 May – Gay Byrne hosted his last Late Late Show after 37 years.
• 28 May – The county engineer for County Clare confirmed that the Latoon fairy bush, which was due to be cut down for the construction of the M18 motorway, would be spared after a preservation campaign led by folklorist Eddie Lenihan. ^[2]

June

• 17 June – UEFA punished the Football Association of Ireland with a fine of £25,000 for not fulfilling a Euro 2000 qualifier against Yugoslavia. ^[3]

August

• 11 August – Ireland joined the world in watching the last solar eclipse of the millennium.
• 18 August - President McAleese attended a novena in Knock, County Mayo.

October

• 12 October – Peter Mandelson arrived in Belfast as the new Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
• 20 October – President McAleese led tributes to the former taoiseach Jack Lynch who died aged 82.

November

• November – Remaining prohibition orders made under the Censorship of Publications Acts relating to contraception or termination of pregnancy were lifted. ^[4]
• 28 November – A fireball tore itself apart in a massive explosion and bright flashes in the night sky over County Carlow. Golf ball-sized fragments were found later by a grandmother in Leighlinbridge, who remained anonymous; the meteorite was named after her town. The four stone fragments totalling 271.4g were classified as ordinary chondrites and were the first meteorites discovered in Ireland since 1865. ^[5]
• 29 November – Ten designated ministers were appointed to the power-sharing Northern Ireland Assembly.

December

• December – The Millennium Bridge was opened in Dublin.
• 2 December
  • The Irish Government ratified changes to Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution.
  • Direct rule from Westminster in Northern Ireland ended.
  • Foras na Gaeilge was established as an agency of The North/South Language Body under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement to promote the Irish language throughout the island of Ireland, assuming the roles of Bord na Gaeilge , An Gúm , and An Coiste Téarmaíochta , previously state bodies of the Government of Ireland.
• 13 December – The first meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council took place in Armagh.
• Inez McCormack of the UNISON trade union became the first woman President of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. ^[6]

Arts and literature

• 10 February – Mark O'Rowe's play Howie the Rookie premièred at the Bush Theatre, London. ^[7]
• 19 April – Sligo boyband Westlife released their first single, Swear It Again , the first of fourteen that went straight to number one in the UK Singles Chart.
• 6 October – Frank McGuinness's drama Dolly West's Kitchen premièred at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin. ^[8]
• 1 November – Westlife released their first album, five singles from which went to number one in the UK Singles Chart.
• Colm Tóibín's novel The Blackwater Lightship was published.

Sport

Association football

• St Patrick's Athletic won the League of Ireland for the third time in four years.

Gaelic football

• Meath beat Cork 1–11 to 1–8 to win their second All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in four years.

Golf

• Murphy's Irish Open was won by Sergio García (Spain).

Hurling

• Cork beat Kilkenny 0–13 to 0–12 to win the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship for the first time since 1990.

Births

• 22 January – David Clifford, Gaelic footballer
• 18 May – Mark Travers, footballer
• 11 August – Mary Fitzgerald, Paralympic athlete ^[9]

Deaths

• 15 January – Robert Lowry, Baron Lowry, Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland (b. 1919)
• 28 January – Markey Robinson, artist (b. 1918)
• 8 February – Iris Murdoch, novelist and philosopher (b. 1919)
• 22 February – Pat Upton, Labour Party TD (b. 1944)
• 25 April – William McCrea, astronomer and mathematician (b. 1904)
• 25 April – Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin, journalist, author, sports official and sixth president of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1914)
• 11 May – Birdy Sweeney, actor (b. 1931)
• 23 May – Cathal Gannon, harpsichord maker and fortepiano restorer (b. 1910)
• 15 June – Fred Tiedt, boxer (b. 1935)
• 17 July – Donal McCann, actor (b. 1943)
• 27 July – Malachi Martin, Roman Catholic priest and author (b. 1921)
• 21 August – Noel Larmour, cricketer and diplomat (b. 1916)
• 21 August – Maurice Gerard Moynihan, civil servant and writer (b. 1902)
• 24 August – Eithne Strong, poet
• 4 September – Raonaid Murray, victim of an unsolved murder (b. 1982)
• 13 October – Michael Hartnett, poet (b. 1941)
• 15 October – Josef Locke, tenor (b. 1917)
• 20 October – Jack Lynch, former Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil (b. 1917)
• 14 November – Brian Ó Cuív, son-in-law of Éamon de Valera, Celtic scholar and author
• 23 November – Micheál Cranitch, Fianna Fáil politician, Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann in 1973 (b. 1912)
• 29 November – Michael O'Halloran, politician in the UK (b. 1933)
• 30 December – Tom Aherne, soccer player (b. 1919)

Full date unknown

• Manliff Barrington, motorcycle racer (b. 1910)
• Áine Ní Cheanainn, educationalist (b. 1907)

See also

• 1999 in Irish television

References

1. Dáil adjournment comments, 29 April 1999 ^{[ permanent dead link ]}
2. Multiple sources:
   • Deegan, Gordon (29 May 1999). "Fairy bush survives the motorway planners". The Irish Times . Retrieved 11 June 2024.
   • Mulvaney, Amy (24 April 2019). "Double Take: The fairy bush in Co Clare that moved a motorway". TheJournal.ie . Retrieved 11 June 2024.
   • Magan, Manchán (13 May 2021). "From ringfort to ring road: The destruction of Ireland's fairy forts. Some of these ancient mounds date back to 3000 BC, but many are buried under motorways". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
   • F. Clarity, James (16 June 1999). "If You Believe in Fairies, Don't Bulldoze Their Lair". The New York Times . Retrieved 11 June 2024.
   • McMahon, Páraic (26 October 2020). "A Latoon fairy bush that got international attention". The Clare Echo. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
3. "Ireland fined £25,000 for cancelled Yugoslavia match". RTÉ News. 17 June 1999.
4. Iris Oifigiúil , 7 March 2000
5. Multiple sources:
   • Carrington, Damian (31 January 2000). "Woman finds space fireball debris". BBC News.
   • Elliott, Rob. "Leighlinbridge". Fernlea Meteorites UK. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
   • Leighlinbridge The Meteoritical Society, Retrieved: 16 February 2013
6. O'Toole, Fintan. "15 women who made a breakthrough". irishtimes.com. Archived from the original on 28 November 2010. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
7. "Howie the Rookie". Playography Ireland. Dublin: Irish Theatre Institute. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
8. "Dolly West's Kitchen". Playography Ireland. Dublin: Irish Theatre Institute. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
9. "FITZGERALD Mary". Paris 2024 Paralympics . Retrieved 21 August 2024. (alternate link, alternate link 2)

External links

• 1999 at Reeling in the Years