1998 in Ireland - Events

Events

• 1 January – The VECs of the towns of Bray, Drogheda, Sligo, Tralee and Wexford are abolished.
• 14 January – The Planning Tribunal opens in Dublin Castle.
• 27 February – Republic of Ireland qualifies for entry into the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union.
• 15 March – Former Fine Gael Minister Hugh Coveney dies in a fall from a cliff in County Cork.
• 10 April – Good Friday: the British and Irish governments and all the political parties in Northern Ireland (except the Democratic Unionists) sign the Belfast Agreement.
• 22 May – The Good Friday Agreement is endorsed in a referendum by people north and south of the border.
• 3 July – The boyband Westlife are formed.
• 15 August – 29 people die in a bomb explosion near the centre of Omagh, County Tyrone, caused by the Real IRA.
• 4 September – USA President Bill Clinton begins his second official visit to the Island of Ireland, his first was in 1995.
• 20 September – TV3 goes on the air.
• 26 November – Tony Blair becomes the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to address the Oireachtas.
• 30 November – Unemployment falls by 20% with the number of people in work rising by 100,000.
• 12 December – Members of the Labour Party and Democratic Left agree to merge.
• 26 December – Great Boxing Day Storm ('Hurricane Stephen'): Severe gale force winds hit north west Ireland causing widespread disruption to services.
• 31 December – The Punt is traded for the last time as the Euro currency is launched.