1993 in Ireland explained

Events from the year 1993 in Ireland.

Incumbents

• President: Mary Robinson
• Taoiseach: Albert Reynolds (FF)
• Tánaiste:
  • John Wilson (FF) (until 12 January 1993)
  • Dick Spring (Lab) (from 12 January 1993)
• Minister for Finance: Bertie Ahern (FF)
• Chief Justice: Thomas Finlay
• Dáil: 27th
• Seanad: 20th (from 17 February 1993)

Events

• 8 - 17 January – The Braer Storm blew in the North Atlantic.
• 12 January – Albert Reynolds was elected Taoiseach in Dáil Éireann. A Fianna Fáil–Labour Party coalition government came to power.
• 10 March – The Gaelic Athletic Association received planning permission for the redevelopment of the Croke Park stadium.
• 25 March – Castlerock killings: four Catholics were shot dead by the Ulster Defence Association as they arrived for work in Castlerock, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
• 27 May – The first meeting of an Irish head of state with a British monarch took place when President Mary Robinson makes a private visit to Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.^[1]
• 1 June – Mother Teresa met President Mary Robinson at Áras an Uachtaráin.
• 24 June – Dáil Éireann passed the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act, decriminalising consensual homosexual acts.
• 15 July – The Beef Tribunal ended after 226 days.
• September – The sale of land beside a Dublin convent and the consequent exhumation of at least 133 former residents of a Magdalene asylum from unmarked graves brought the existence of these institutions to wide public attention.^{[2] [3]}
• 16 September – A new green coloured £10 note was issued depicting the writer James Joyce.
• 23 October – Shankill Road bombing – Ten people were killed when a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) bomb exploded at a fish shop on the Shankill Road in Belfast.
• 30 October – Greysteel massacre – The Ulster Defence Association shot 21 people in the Rising Sun Bar in Greysteel, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, during a Hallowe'en party. They chose the pub as it was in a Catholic area.
• 12 November – The issue of a new, smaller 10 pence coin meant there was no longer a coin equivalent in size to a florin after 22 years.
• December – Brú na Bóinne became the first UNESCO World Heritage Site designated in Ireland.
• 15 December – Taoiseach Albert Reynolds and British Prime Minister John Major issued a joint Downing Street Declaration on the future of Northern Ireland.^[4]
• 25 December – Elizabeth II spoke of her hopes for peace in Northern Ireland in her Christmas Day speech to the U.K.^[5]
• 29 December – The IRA announced it would fight on against the British presence in Northern Ireland.

Arts and literature

• 15 May – Niamh Kavanagh won the Eurovision Song Contest (staged at the Green Glens Arena in Millstreet, County Cork) for Ireland with In Your Eyes, the second of three consecutive Irish wins.
• 6 August – The television film The Snapper was released.
• 26–7 August – The band U2 played two concerts at the RDS Showgrounds.^[6]
• 11 November – The final Jacob's Broadcasting Awards ceremony took place in Dublin.
• 16 December – The world première of the film In the Name of the Father was held at the Savoy Cinema in Dublin.
• Roddy Doyle was awarded the Booker Prize for his novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.
• John Banville's novel Ghosts was published.
• The Irish Film Board was re-established as a funding body under the chairmanship of Lelia Doolan.

Sport

Association football

Domestic football

• Shelbourne defeated Dundalk 1–0 at Lansdowne Road to win the FAI Cup.

International football

• Alan McLoughlin scored as Ireland drew 1–1 with Northern Ireland to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the USA.
• Ireland also went 6th in the world to reach their highest FIFA ranking to date.

Athletics

• Runner Marcus O'Sullivan won the world indoor 1,500-metre championship for the third time, in Toronto.

Gaelic football

• Derry beat Cork 1–14 to 2–8 to win the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship for the first time.

Golf

• The Irish Open was won by Nick Faldo (England).

Hurling

• Kilkenny beat Galway 2–17 to 1–15 to win their second consecutive All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.

Mountaineering

• Pat Falvey and Dawson Stelfox became the first Irish people to reach the summit of Mount Everest.^[7]

Births

• 6 January – Al Porter, entertainer
• 21 February – Shane Dowling, hurler (Na Piarsaigh, Limerick).
• 20 April – Dan Morrissey, hurler (Ahane, Limerick)
• 25 April – Josh van der Flier, Rugby player
• 6 June – Aisling Franciosi, screen actress
• 27 June – Rejjie Snow, born Alex Anyaegbunam, hip hop musician
• 7 July – Ciarán Kilkenny, Gaelic footballer
• 5 August – Patrick McBrearty, Donegal Gaelic football superstar
• 13 September – Niall Horan, member of boy band One Direction

Deaths

• 5 February – Seán Flanagan, Gaelic footballer, captain of winning Mayo All Ireland football teams in 1950s, Fianna Fáil TD, Cabinet Minister and MEP (born 1922).
• 11 February – Brian Inglis, journalist, historian and television presenter (born 1916).
• 15 February – Peter Kavanagh, soccer player (born 1910).
• 23 March – Denis Parsons Burkitt, surgeon (born 1911).
• April – Denis Hegarty, public servant.
• 5 May – Dermot Boyle, Marshal of the Royal Air Force (born 1904).
• 29 June – Patrick Lindsay, Fine Gael TD and lawyer (born 1914).
• 28 July – Stanley Woods, motor cycle racer, with 29 Grand Prix wins and 10 Isle of Man TT wins (born 1903).
• 14 September – Sheelagh Murnaghan, only Ulster Liberal Party Member of Parliament at Stormont (born 1924).
• 7 October – Cyril Cusack, actor (born 1910).
• 1 November – Maeve Brennan, short story writer and journalist (born 1917).
• 15 November – Jimmy McAlinden, soccer player and manager (born 1917).
• 28 November – Joe Kelly, motor racing driver (born 1913).
• 29 December – Marie Kean, actress (born 1918).

See also

• 1993 in Irish television

Notes and References

1. Web site: Flashback 1993: The first Irish head of state meeting with a British monarch . The Independent . 2 June 2021 . en.
2. News: Funeral ceremony sought for 'Magdalens'. O'Loughlin. Edward. The Irish Times. 8 September 1993. 4.
3. News: Irish Church's Forgotten Victims Take Case to U.N.. Carol. Ryan. The New York Times. 25 May 2011.
4. Web site: 1993: Anglo–Irish pact paves way for peace. 2008-02-13. 15 December 1993. On This Day. BBC News. https://web.archive.org/web/20080307120320/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/15/newsid_4032000/4032141.stm. 7 March 2008. live.
5. Web site: Christmas Broadcast 1993 . The official website of The British Monarchy . . https://web.archive.org/web/20150726060248/http://www.royal.gov.uk/ImagesandBroadcasts/TheQueensChristmasBroadcasts/ChristmasBroadcasts/ChristmasBroadcast1993.aspx . 26 July 2015 . 18 October 2021.
6. http://www.u2gigs.com/tour202.html U2's ZOO TV 4th leg: Zooropa
7. News: Siggins. Lorina. Latest climbs bring Irish Everest ascents to 19. 2010-12-20. The Irish Times. 27 May 2010.