1971 in Ireland

Events

April 3 – the Eurovision Song Contest is held in Dublin. Presented by Bernadette Ní Ghallchóir, it is the first colour broadcast by RTÉ.
April 11 – The Gaelic Athletic Association votes to lift its ban on members participating in "foreign games" such as soccer, rugby and cricket.
May 11 – Sean Lemass, Taoiseach from 1959 to 1966, dies in Dublin aged 71. He was active during the 1916 Easter Rising, the War of Independence and the Civil War.
May 22 – members of the Irish Women's Liberation Movement return to Dublin by train from Belfast bringing contraceptives as a protest against the law banning their importation.
July 16 – the SDLP announces that it is withdrawing from Stormont.
August 9 – internment without trial is introduced in Northern Ireland. 300 men are 'lifted' in pre-dawn raids. No loyalists are targeted.
August 12 – British troops begin clearing operations in Belfast following the worst rioting in years. An Taoiseach Jack Lynch calls for an end to the Stormont administration.
September 25 – a rally takes place in Dublin in support of passive disobedience in Northern Ireland.
November 10 – the government defeats a motion of no confidence in Jim Gibbons.
November 17 – Neil Blaney and Paudge Brennan are expelled from the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party.
November 19 – An Taoiseach Jack Lynch has talks with British Prime Minister Harold Wilson in Dublin.

January 24 – St John Ervine, playwright and novelist.
April 1 – Dame Kathleen Lonsdale, X-ray crystallographer.
May 10 – Archie Heron, trade union organiser.
May 11 – Sean Lemass, former Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil.
May 15 – Sir Tyrone Guthrie, playwright and novelist.
June 13 – Máiréad Ní Ghráda, poet and playwright.
June 14 – Gerard Dillon, artist and painter.
September 15 – John Bernal, physicist.
September 26 – Conor Maguire, lawyer and judge.
October 3 – Seán Ó Riada, composer.
December 16 – Richard Mulcahy, Revolutionary, Cabinet Minister and former leader of Fine Gael.