1997 in Ireland

Events

January 8 – Russia seeks to widen its ban on the importation of Irish beef due to BSE.
February 27 – The law providing for divorce comes into effect today.
March 6 – Michael Lowry resigns as a member of the Fine Gael Party.
March 7 – President Mary Robinson meets Pope John Paul II in the Vatican.
March 17 – The new national independent radio station, Radio Ireland, goes on the air.
April 8 – Author Frank McCourt is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his book Angela's Ashes.
June 12 – President Mary Robinson is appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
July 3 – An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, meets Prime Minister Tony Blair for the first time.
July 6 – There is violence in nationalist areas after an Orange Order march is forced down the Garvaghy Road in Portadown.
July 9 – Counsel for Charles Haughey admits that the former-Taoiseach accepted £1.3 million from businessman Ben Dunne.
July 20 – The IRA institutes a second ceasefire.
September 12 – Mary Robinson resigns as President of Ireland to take up a United Nations post.
October 7 – Substantial all-perty talks begin in Northern Ireland.
November 7 – Dick Spring confirms that he is resigning as leader of the Labour Party.
November 11 – Mary McAleese is inaugurated as the eighth President of Ireland.
November 13 – Ruairí Quinn wins the leadership of the Labour Party.
December 27 – The Loyalist Volunteer Force leader Billy Wright is shot dead in the Maze prison.