1991 in Ireland

← 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1991 in Ireland → 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
See also:	1991 in Northern Ireland Other events of 1991 List of years in Ireland

Events from the year 1991 in Ireland.

Incumbents

• President: Mary Robinson (formerly Independent and Labour Party)
• Taoiseach: Charles Haughey (Fianna Fáil)

Events

• 1 January – Limerick city celebrated 300 years of the Treaty of Limerick.
• 17 January – There was controversy as the government allowed United States military aircraft bound for the Gulf War to refuel at Shannon Airport.
• 24 January – The new Government Buildings in the renovated College of Science were officially opened.
• 7 February – The Provisional Irish Republican Army fired mortar bombs at 10 Downing Street in London.
• 14 March – After being wrongfully jailed for 16 years, the Birmingham Six were freed.
• 15 March – The Sugar Act provided for privatization of Cómhlucht Siúicre Éireann, Teoranta, the state-owned sugar beet processor, as Greencore.
• 16 March – Dublin was officially inaugurated as the year's European Capital of Culture.
• 22 March – The President, Mary Robinson, against pressure not to do so from the Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, visited the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin where the Dalai Lama opened a Tibetan collection in the library. She was the only head of state in Europe to meet with him during his European trip.^[1] The Dalai Lama's first visit to Ireland was in 1973.^[2]
• 10 April – An unarmed Provisional Irish Republican Army Volunteer was shot dead in Downpatrick by the RUC.
• 17 May – first edition of the Liffey Champion, local newspaper for North County Kildare and Lucan.
• 26 June – The wrongful convictions of the Maguire Seven were quashed.
• 6 November – Kildare TD Seán Power proposed a no-confidence motion in Charles Haughey's leadership.
• 7 November – The Minister for Finance, Albert Reynolds, was dismissed from the government over his intention to support the no-confidence motion.
• 13 November – Jim McDaid, the new Defence Minister, resigned following criticism from the opposition over his attendance at an IRA funeral.
• 21 November – Three crew members of the M.V. Kilkenny are drowned as a result of a collision between the Kilkenny the M.V. Hassel Werder in Dublin Bay.

Arts and literature

• 25 May – Opening of the Irish Museum of Modern Art at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham.
• November – Opening of the Dublin Writers Museum.
• Corcadorca Theatre Company established in Cork.
• Roddy Doyle's novel The Van, last of The Barrytown Trilogy, was published.
• Anne Enright's short story collection The Portable Virgin was published and won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature.

Sport

Athletics

• Frank O'Mara won the world indoor 3,000 metre championship for the second time.

Cycling

• 19 October – Sean Kelly won the Giro di Lombardia.

Football

• The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final finished on a score of Down GAA 1–16 Meath GAA 1–14.

Golf

• Carroll's Irish Open was won by Nick Faldo (England).

Hurling

• The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final finished on a score of Tipperary GAA 1–16 Kilkenny GAA 0–15.

Motor racing

• Eddie Jordan entered his Jordan team in the World Formula One Championship, becoming the first Irish owned constructor in Formula One.

Births

Sarah Bolger was born in February.

Evanna Lynch was born in August.

• 28 February – Sarah Bolger, actress.
• 16 August – Evanna Lynch, actress.

Deaths

January to June

• 5 January – Hubert Butler, writer and historian (born 1900)
• 29 January – Joe Stynes, Irish Republican and sportsman (born 1903).
• 19 February – Thekla Beere, civil servant (born 1902).
• 20 April – Seán Ó Faoláin, short story writer (born 1900).
• 22 May – Valentin Iremonger, poet and diplomat (born 1918).
• 25 May – John M. Feehan, author and publisher (born 1916).
• 25 May – Eddie Fullerton, Sinn Féin councillor, killed by the Ulster Defence Association (born 1935).

July to December

• 18 August – Patrick Joseph Kelly, Bishop of Benin City (born 1894).
• 17 October – J. G. Devlin, actor (born 1907).
• 13 November – Francis Blackwood, 10th Baron Dufferin and Claneboye (born 1916).
• 12 November – Billy Behan, soccer player and scout (born 1911).
• 14 November – Bryden Thomson, orchestral conductor (born 1928 in Scotland).
• 15 November – George Otto Simms, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin and Archbishop of Armagh (born 1910).
• 19 November – Michael Lyons, Fine Gael TD and Senator (born 1910).
• 1 December – Pat O'Callaghan, athlete and Olympic gold-medallist (born 1905).

References