1998 in Northern Ireland explained

Events during the year 1998 in Northern Ireland.

Incumbents

• First Minister - David Trimble (from 1 July)
• deputy First Minister - Seamus Mallon (from 1 July)
• Secretary of State - Mo Mowlam

Events

• 9 January - British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam, visits loyalist prisoners in the Maze prison. Afterward loyalists agree to attend the Stormont talks.^[1]
• 20 February - Sinn Féin is excluded from the Northern Ireland talks for two weeks. Protests in Belfast follow.^[2]
• 10 April (Good Friday) - The British and Irish governments and all the political parties in the Northern Ireland (except the Democratic Unionist Party) sign the Belfast Agreement.^{[3] [4] [5]}
• 19 May - John Hume and David Trimble join U2 on stage in Belfast as they make a direct appeal to young voters in Northern Ireland to vote 'yes' in the referendum on the Good Friday Agreement.^[6]
• 22 May - The Belfast Agreement is endorsed in a referendum by people north and south of the border.^[7]
• 25 June - The people of Northern Ireland go to the polls to elect a new Assembly.
• June - Crumlin Road Courthouse is closed and the site is eventually sold to a private developer.^[8]
• 1 July - The new Northern Ireland Assembly first meets, in "shadow" form; Reg Empey and Seamus Mallon are elected First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively.
• 12 July - Drumcree conflict: Three young children are killed in a loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force arson attack in Ballymoney.^[9]
• 15 August - Omagh bombing: 29 people die in a car bomb explosion near the centre of Omagh, County Tyrone, caused by the Real Irish Republican Army.^[10]
• 3 September - Bill Clinton, President of the United States, visits Omagh and views the bomb damage.^[11]
• 16 October - John Hume and David Trimble are announced as the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 6 November - David Trimble returns as First Minister in succession to Reg Empey.
• 10 December - John Hume and David Trimble are presented with the Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo, Norway.

Arts and literature

• Malachi O'Doherty's study The Trouble With Guns: Republican Strategy and the Provisional IRA is published.

Sport

Football

• Irish League

Winners: Cliftonville

• Irish Cup

Winners: Glentoran 1 - 0 Glenavon (after extra time).

Motorcycling

• Robert Dunlop wins the Ultra-Lightweight race at the Isle of Man TT.

Deaths

• 2 September - Jackie Blanchflower, footballer (b.1933).
• 13 November - Valerie Hobson, actress (b.1917).

Full date unknown

• Sean McAloon, Uilleann piper and pipe maker (b.1923).

See also

• 1998 in England
• 1998 in Scotland
• 1998 in Wales

References

1. Web site: Archer. Bimpe. 2018-01-10. Anniversary of day Mo Mowlam visited the Maze to persuade prisoners to try peace. 2021-08-08. The Irish News. en.
2. Web site: BBC News UK Sinn Fein suspended from peace talks. 2021-08-08. news.bbc.co.uk.
3. Web site: The Belfast Agreement/Good Friday Agreement 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly Education Service. 2021-08-08. education.niassembly.gov.uk.
4. Book: Fenton, Siobhan. The Good Friday Agreement. 2018-05-24. Biteback Publishing. 978-1-78590-382-3. en.
5. Book: Morrissey. M.. Northern Ireland After the Good Friday Agreement: Victims, Grievance and Blame. Smyth. Marie Breen. 2002. Pluto Press. 978-0-7453-1673-4. English.
6. Tannam . Etain . Explaining the Good Friday Agreement: A Learning Process . Government and Opposition . October 2001 . 36 . 4 . 493–518 . 10.1111/1477-7053.00078 . 145060015 .
7. Web site: The Belfast Agreement. 2021-08-08. heinonline.org.
8. Web site: UAH calls for Stormont to repossess Crumlin Road Courthouse. 2021-08-08. UAH. en.
9. Web site: 1998: Children die in Drumcree protests . BBC News. 2008-02-13. 12 July 1998. https://web.archive.org/web/20080307121057/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/12/newsid_2500000/2500503.stm. 7 March 2008 . live.
10. Collins . Sean . What about us? The psychological implications of dealing with trauma following the Omagh bombing . Emergency Nurse . March 2001 . 8 . 10 . 9–13 . 10.7748/en.8.10.9.s13 . . 11935824 .
11. Book: Edwards, Ruth Dudley. Aftermath: The Omagh Bombing and the Families' Pursuit of Justice. 2013-09-30. Random House. 978-1-4464-8578-1. en.