2008 in Ireland

	2008; in; Ireland
Decades:	1980s • 1990s • 2000s • 2010s
Centuries:	19th • 20th • 21st
See also:	2008 in Northern Ireland; Other events of 2008; List of years in Ireland

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[edit] Incumbents

President - Mary McAleese
Taoiseach - Bertie Ahern (to May 7), Brian Cowen
Tánaiste - Brian Cowen (to May 7), Mary Coughlan
First Minister - Ian Paisley (to June 5), Peter Robinson
Deputy First Minister - Martin McGuinness

[edit] Events

[edit] January

January 1 - Philip Hogarty (aged 19) becomes the first road death on Irish roads in 2008 after being struck by a Garda patrol car in Tallaght. Philip was chairman of the Irish Chess Union.^[1]
January 2 - After 36 years in business, The Burlington Hotel in Dublin closes, with the loss of 400 jobs.^[2]
January 4 - An unforecasted blizzard hits the country, leading to the heaviest snowfall in Ireland since December 2000.
January 9 - After days of heavy rainfall in the South West serious flooding occurs in Fermoy and Mallow with parts of Mallow under 1.3 m of water.^[3]
January 13 - Following months of protest, Aer Lingus complete their last Shannon to Heathrow flight.
January 16 - Wayne O'Donoghue is released from prison after serving three years of a four year jail term for the manslaughter of Robert Holohan (aged 11) in January 2005.^[4]
January 21 - €4bn was wiped off the Irish Stock Exchange as the worlds stock markets slumped.
January 23 - The brother of a Real IRA leader is one of two Irish citizens arrested in Lithuania on suspicion of buying firearms and explosives for the Real IRA.^[5]
January 25 - The closure of the Jacob's plant in Tallaght, County Dublin, is announced, with the loss of 220 jobs by March 2009.^[6]
January 26 - Martin Foley, aka "The Viper", is shot in south Dublin possibly as part of an ongoing feud between criminal gangs. It was the fifth failed attempt on Mr Foley's life.^[7]

[edit] February

February 1 - Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, travels to Ballymena to meet First Minister, Ian Paisley, and open a resort and spa.^[8]
February 4 - Dublin based gangland criminal, Paddy Doyle, is shot dead in Southern Spain.^[9]
February 6 - Éamon Ó Cuív, Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, announces €250,000 grant to allow Orange Lodges to employ a development officer.^[10]
February 13 - Giovanni Trapattoni is confirmed as the new manager of the Republic of Ireland soccer team.
February 23 - Two Polish men were attacked with screwdrivers by a gang of teenagers in Drimnagh Southside Dublin. Both died later from their injuries.
February 29 - Ireland became the 22nd nation to recognize Kosovan independence.

[edit] March

March 5 - A jury finds Brian Kearney guilty of the murder of his wife, Siobhán Kearney, at their home in Goatstown in February 2006.^[11]

12 March - Libertas lobby group launches a campaign called Facts, not politics which advocates a No vote in the Treaty of Lisbon.^[12]

March 14 - The Economic and Social Research Institute predicted that economic growth in Ireland for 2008 will be 1.6%, the lowest level since 1988. It was also forecast that no new jobs will be added to the Irish economy for the first time since 1991.^[13]

March 26 - Farmer Michael Hanrahan, 60 , and his son Denis Hanrahan, 27, are found shot dead at their home in Moyvane, County Kerry.

[edit] April

April 2 - Taoiseach Bertie Ahern announces that he will resign as Head of Government on May 6.
April 8 - Brian Cowen is elected as the seventh leader of Fianna Fáil.
April 12 - Patrick Hillery, sixth President and former Minister and European Commissioner, dies aged 84.
April 15 - The case of broadcaster Pat Kenny and his neighbour, Gerard Charlrton, involving the claiming of an area of land near their home, was settled by the court. It was decided that Kenny would pay an undisclosed sum of money for the land called Gorse Hill.
April 17 - Ciarán Cannon becomes the leader of the Progressive Democrats
April 21 - It is revealed that four laptops belonging to Bank of Ireland and containing personal information of approximately 10,000 customers were stolen between June and October 2007
April 30 - Bertie Ahern becomes the sixth Irish leader to address both houses of the United States Congress.

[edit] May

May 6 - As part of one of his last engagements as Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern opens a new visitors centre at the site of the Battle of the Boyne in County Meath alongside Northern Ireland First Minister Ian Paisley
May 7 - Dáil Éireann elects Fianna Fáil leader Brian Cowen as Taoiseach.
May 10 - 16 year-old Roman Vysochan, a Ukrainian national, is found stabbed to death in Corbally on the outskirts of Limerick City.
May 11 - A 51 year-old man is killed and another seriously injured in a small plane crash in Kilmovee, County Mayo.
May 14 - An excavation is carried out in the Slieve Bloom Mountains for the remains of Fiona Pender, who has been missing since 1996, following the discovery of a cross with her name printed on it.
May 20 - Dustin the Turkey fails to qualify for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 after being knocked out at the first semi-finals stage.
May 24 - Celebrations take place across Munster as the Munster rugby team beat Toulouse 16-13 in the 2007-08 Heineken Cup at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
May 30 - The international Convention on Cluster Munitions is adopted at the end of a ten-day diplomatic conference in Croke Park.

[edit] June

June 12 - Treaty of Lisbon Referendum: The Irish public vote on whether to ratify or reject the Lisbon Treaty
June 13 - Rejection of the Treaty of Lisbon by Irish voters: 53% votes "No" against 47% votes "Yes".
June 16 - Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin, meets with EU leaders to discuss the future of the Lisbon Treaty.
June 28 - A syndicate of workers at a concrete products plant in County Carlow become the winners of Ireland's biggest ever lottery jackpot of €18,963,441.
June 30 - The law requiring learner drivers on a second provisional licence to be accompanied by a fully qualified driver comes into effect.

[edit] July

July 1 - New VRT rates are introduced. VRT will now be based on carbon dioxide emissions.
July 8 - The Department of Finance announce a €440m spending cutback in the budget including €144m off the Department of Health and Children
July 11-13 - Oxegen 2008 takes place at Punchestown Racecourse in County Kildare.
July 21 - French President Nicolas Sarkozy visits Ireland to discuss with Brian Cowen the future of the Lisbon Treaty.
July 28 - Ryanair reveals a loss in profit for the first time since becoming a public company in 1997.
July 31 - Heavy rainfall brings flash floods to Newcastle West in County Limerick and Mallow, County Cork.

[edit] August

August 2 to August 10 - Jamboree 2008, an international Jamboree takes place in Punchestown.
August 3 - 37-year-old Ger McDonnell, the first Irishman to reach the summit of K2, is presumed dead after being hit by falling ice upon descent.
August 9 - Donegal's Chloe Magee becomes the first ever Irish Olympian to win a badminton match at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. ^[14]
August 9 - Flash floods occurred in County Dublin and County Kildare due to record rainfalls approx. 80 litre per square metre.
August 10 - Pádraig Harrington wins the US PGA Championship, his third major win.
August 16 - A Dublin to Cork train derails south of Portarlington, County Laois.
August 22 - A bogslide displaces 30,000 people and causes massive ecological and infrastructural damage in County Kerry.

[edit] September

September 3 - Ireland's unemployment rate reaches 6.1%, the highest since 1999.
September 7 - Kilkenny beat Waterford 3-30 to 1-13 in the final of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2008.
September 19 - Three people suffer minor injuries following a helicopter crash in a school playground in Bettystown, County Meath.
September 21 - Tyrone beat Kerry 1-15 to 0-14 to be crowned All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 2008 winners.
September 25 - It is announced that the Irish economy had officially entered recession in January 2008 for the first time since 1983.
September 30 - The Government decides during the night to offer a 400 billion guarantee to initially 6 leading Irish banks to prevent their collapse due to the global Economic crisis of 2008

[edit] October

2 October - For the first time in its history since 1922, Seanad Éireann begins debate of a bill after midnight, the Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Act 2008 which it passed at 08:00
14 October - Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan unveils Budget 2009. It becomes the toughest Budget in recent years and also the most controversial. He announces that the automatic entitlement of over 70's OAPs to a medical card will be scraped, all workers will be exposed to a 1% income level, and an increase in college fees will come into effect.
21 October - Following country-wide outrage, Brian Cowen increases the higher income thresholds for the elderly that will allow 95% of those over 70 to retain their full medical cards.
22 October - Over 25,000 OAP pensioners and angry students march on Dáil Éireann to protest at their treatment in the government budget.
24 October - Gerry Ryan steps in to present an edition of The Late Late Show following the death of Mr. Pat Kenny's mother, Connie.
25 October - Two adults and two teenagers from Bristol, England are removed from life following a plane crash in the Wicklow Mountains.

[edit] November

November 6 - Operation Seabight successful.
November 8 - Rugby player Shane Geoghegan is shot dead outside his home in Limerick in a case of mistaken identity. The murder leads to a nationwide appeal to the end of gangland killing in Ireland.

[edit] December

6 December - 2008 Irish pork and beef crisis: All Irish pork products are recalled following an announcement that animal feed used since September 1 may contain between 80 and 200 more times dioxins than the recognised safety limit.
11 December - Irish pork is confirmed to be safe and begins to return to the market.
15 December - Celine Cawley, founder and manager of the advertising agency, Toytown Films and a former Bond girl (A View to a Kill), is found murdered at her home in Howth, Dublin.^[15]
20 December - The Bishop of Cloyne, Dr John Magee is asked to resign after a report on child abuse in his diocese found the Roman Catholic Church had not responded appropriately to abuse allegations.^[16]
31 December - Three Nenagh teenagers become the final Irish road traffic accident victims of 2008, a year which ends with the least such deaths since records began.^[17]

[edit] Future or Predicted events

[edit] Year Long

Scouting in Ireland celebrates its centenary. Events to celebrate the centenary are planned throughout the year with the National Jamboree, and an exhibition in the National Museum as highlights.