1981 in Ireland - Events

Events

  • 6 February - Attacks on shipping in Lough Foyle (1981-1982): Liverpool-registered coal ship Nellie M is bombed and sunk by a Provisional Irish Republican Army unit using a hijacked pilot boat in Lough Foyle.
  • 14 February - Forty-eight young people die in a fire at the Stardust Ballroom in Artane, Dublin.
  • 1 March - Bobby Sands begins a hunger strike at the Long Kesh prison in Belfast.
  • 5 March - The petrol strike ends as 800 tanker drivers resume work.
  • 4 April - Ireland hosts the Eurovision Song Contest, presented by Doireann Ní Bhriain and aired on RTÉ.
  • 10 April - Bobby Sands is elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone.
  • 2 May - Aer Lingus Flight 164, a Boeing 737 en route from Dublin to London is hijacked and ordered to fly to Tehran. The flight is diverted to Paris and the hijacker, Laurence Downey, is arrested.
  • 5 May - Bobby Sands dies on the 66th day of his hunger strike in the Maze Prison in Belfast.
  • 12 May - Francis Hughes, previously the most wanted man in the North, dies on the 59th day of his hunger strike in Belfast.
  • 21 May - Raymond McCreesh and Patsy O'Hara both die on the 61st day of their hunger strike in the Maze Prison.
  • 30 June - Fine Gael leader Dr. Garret FitzGerald is elected Taoiseach.
  • 8 July - IRA hunger striker Joe McDonnell dies. He is the fifth person to die.
  • 1 August - Hunger striker Kevin Lynch dies.
  • 2 August - Kieran Doherty, TD for Cavan-Monaghan, dies on the 73rd day of his hunger strike.
  • 11 September - The Irish Sugar Company announces that it is to close its factory in Tuam, County Galway.
  • 14 September - Artist and writer Christy Brown is buried in Dublin.
  • 19 December - Penlee lifeboat disaster: The Arklow-bound, Dublin-registered Union Star is lost on its maiden voyage off Cornwall. Sixteen lives are lost, eight from the Union Star and eight from RNLB Solomon Browne who die while attempting rescue.
  • 27 December - Supporters of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children march in Dublin to demand a referendum for a pro-life amendment to the Constitution.
  • The Green Party (Ireland) is founded as the Ecology Party of Ireland by Dublin teacher Christopher Fettes.

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