2007 in Northern Ireland explained

Events during the year 2007 in Northern Ireland.

Incumbents

• First Minister - Ian Paisley (from 8 May)
• deputy First Minister - Martin McGuinness (from 8 May)
• Secretary of State - Peter Hain (until 28 June), Shaun Woodward (from 28 June)

Events

• 22 January – Report by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland states that the Special Branch of the then Royal Ulster Constabulary had colluded with loyalist paramilitaries in a number of murders and attempted murders in Northern Belfast between 1989 and 2002.^[1]
• 28 January – Special Sinn Féin Ard Fheis approves a motion calling for devolution of policing and justice to the Northern Ireland Assembly and support for the police services.
• 30 January, the Prime Minister confirms that assembly elections will go ahead as planned on 7 March. The 'transitional assembly' is thus dissolved, after which campaigning for the elections begins.^[2]
• 7 March – Elections took place for the suspended Northern Ireland Assembly.
• April – A 100-metre stainless steel 'spire of hope' is installed on St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast.^[3]
• 8 May – Power devolved; Northern Ireland Assembly meets; Ian Paisley becomes the second First Minister of Northern Ireland, with Martin McGuinness as Deputy First Minister.^[4]
• 8 - 10 June – First Garden Show Ireland staged, at Hillsborough Castle, launched by Dermot O'Neill.
• 26 June – Former Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner Al Hutchinson is announced as the successor to Nuala O'Loan as Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland.
• 28 June – Shaun Woodward MP appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
• June – Barbary lion cub is born at Belfast Zoo, the first Barbary lion to be born in Ireland.
• 17 July – Meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council including the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) for the first time.
• 31 July – End of Operation Banner, the British Army deployment in Northern Ireland.^[4]
• 30 October – Ryanair starts services from George Best Belfast City Airport.
• October – Peter Robinson, Minister of Finance, introduces the first draft budget for consultation.
• 5 November – Al Hutchinson takes up the post of Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland.
• 13 December – IKEA open their first store in Ireland at the Holywood Exchange, Belfast.
• December – Aer Lingus launch flights from their first base outside the Republic of Ireland at Belfast International Airport.
• 29 December – Nuala O'Loan, former Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, is appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year Honours 2008.^[5]

Arts and literature

• 8 February - Writer, broadcaster and journalist, Benedict Kiely, dies.
• 16 February - Maria Eagle, direct rule Arts Minister, announces a "one-off payment" of £150,000 to sustain the Belfast Festival at Queen's for one more year.^[6]
• 19 October - The 45th Belfast Festival at Queen's opens with a smaller than usual programme due to lack of funding.^[6]
• 18 December - Arts Minister, Edwin Poots, announces a grant of £300,000 over three years for Belfast Festival at Queen's.^[6]
• Malachi O'Doherty's memoir The Telling Year: Belfast 1972 is publishedl.

Sport

Athletics

• 6 January - 30th Belfast International Cross Country Event, Stormont Estate, Belfast.
• 1 February - Armagh International 5k Road Race, The Mall, Armagh.
• 3 February - Northern Ireland and Ulster Cross Country Championships, University of Ulster, Coleraine. Individual winners: Kelly Reid and Brian Campbell.
• 17 February-18 February - Irish Indoor Athletics Championships, Odyssey Arena, Belfast.

Cricket

2007 Cricket World Cup

In a successful world cup debut, the Ireland cricket team qualified from the group stage for the Super 8 stage, notably defeating Pakistan cricket team in the process.

Football

• European Championship Qualifiers^[7]

24 March - Liechtenstein 1 - 4 Northern Ireland

28 March - Northern Ireland 2 - 1 Sweden

22 August - Northern Ireland 3 - 1 Liechtenstein

8 September - Latvia 1 - 0 Northern Ireland

12 September - Iceland 2 - 1 Northern Ireland

17 October - Sweden 1 - 1 Northern Ireland

17 November - Northern Ireland 2 - 1 Denmark

21 November - Spain 1 - 0 Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland came third in the group and failed to qualify.

• Other International Matches
  • Northern Ireland 0 - 0 Wales (6 February)
• Setanta Cup
  • Winners: Drogheda United
• Irish League
  • Winners: Linfield
• Irish Cup
  • Winners: Linfield

Gaelic Athletic Association

• 15 July - Tyrone defeat Monaghan 1–15 to 1–13 in the final of the Ulster Senior Football Championship.

Golf

• 8 September - 9 September - Walker Cup takes place at Royal County Down Golf Club, Newcastle, County Down.
• Pádraig Harrington wins the British Open in Carnoustie, Scotland. Rory McIlroy wins the silver medal for leading amateur. Darren Clarke misses the cut.

Motorcycling

• 12 May - North West 200
• 17 August - Ulster Grand Prix, Dundrod.

Rugby Union

• RBS Six Nations Championship^[8]

4 February - Wales 9 - 19 Ireland

11 February - Ireland 17 - 20 France

24 February - Ireland 43 - 13 England

10 March - Scotland 18 - 19 Ireland

17 March - Italy 24 - 51 Ireland

Ireland finished in second position in the Championship after France.

• 2007 Rugby World Cup
  • Ireland 32 - 17 Namibia
  • Ireland 14 - 10 Georgia
  • Ireland 3 - 25 France
  • Ireland 15 - 30 Argentina

Deaths

• 3 January - Sir Cecil Walker, Ulster Unionist Member of Parliament for North Belfast (1983–2001), heart attack. (born 1924) ^[9]
• 8 January - David Ervine, leader of the Progressive Unionist Party, heart attack leading to stroke and brain haemorrhage. (born 1953).^[10]
• 8 February - Benedict Kiely, writer, broadcaster and journalist (born 1919).
• 16 February - Norman Miscampbell, British Conservative Party MP (born 1925).
• 22 February - Miriam Mone, fashion designer (born 1965).
• 2 April - Emma Groves, blinded by a rubber bullet in 1971, became a leading campaigner for banning the use of plastic bullets, co-founder of the United Campaign Against Plastic Bullets (born 1920).
• 12 June - Eamonn Coleman, Gaelic footballer and manager (born 1948).
• 24 June - Derek Dougan, footballer (born 1938).
• 1 August - Tommy Makem, folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller (born 1932).
• 6 September - John Kelly, Sinn Féin Councillor and MLA (born 1936).
• 30 September - Len Graham, footballer (born 1925).
• 17 October - Sammy Duddy, member of the Ulster Political Research Group (born 1945).
• 3 November - Martin Meehan, Sinn Féin politician and former volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (born 1945).
• 13 November - Alec Cooke, Baron Cooke of Islandreagh, businessman and politician (born 1920).
• 31 December - Tommy Dickson, footballer (born 1929).

See also

• 2007 in England
• 2007 in Scotland
• 2007 in Wales

Notes and References

1. Web site: NI police colluded with killers. 2007-01-22. BBC News. 2012-07-20.
2. Web site: Date set for NI Assembly election. BBC News. 2006-11-16. 2012-07-20.
3. Web site: Spire of hope to light up city. BBC News. 2007-04-12. 2012-07-20.
4. Book: Edwards, Aaron. The Northern Ireland Troubles: Operation Banner 1969-2007. Oxford. Osprey Publishing. 2011. 978-1-84908-525-0. 13.
5. Web site: O'Loan made dame in honours list. BBC News. 2007-12-30. 2007-12-30.
6. News: Matthew . McCreary . Festival future looks bright with £1m deal . . 3 . 2008-02-08 .
7. Web site: Highs and lows on the road to Euro . UEFA Euro 2008 - Northern Ireland . 2008-01-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071230052738/http://www.uefa.com/competitions/euro/teams/team%3D63/index.html . 2007-12-30 . live .
8. Web site: Ireland . RBS Six Nations . 2008-01-27.
9. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6228809.stm Former MP Cecil Walker dies at 81, BBC News
10. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6242215.stm PUP's Ervine has died in hospital, BBC News