1997 in Ireland

Events

January 8 - Russia seeks to widen its ban on the importation of Irish beef due to BSE.
February 27 - The law providing for divorce comes into effect today.
March 6 - Michael Lowry resigns as a member of the Fine Gael Party.
March 7 - President Mary Robinson meets Pope John Paul II in the Vatican.
March 17 - The new national independent radio station, Radio Ireland, goes on the air.
April 8 - Author Frank McCourt is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his book Angela's Ashes.
June 12 - President Mary Robinson is appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
July 3 - An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, meets Prime Minister Tony Blair for the first time.
July 6 - There is violence in nationalist areas after an Orange Order march is forced down the Garvaghy Road by the Royal Ulster Constabulary in Portadown.
July 9 - Counsel for Charles Haughey admits that the former-Taoiseach accepted £1.3 million from businessman Ben Dunne.
July 20 - The IRA institutes a second ceasefire.
September 12 - Mary Robinson resigns as President of Ireland to take up a United Nations post.
October 7 - Substantial all-party talks begin in Northern Ireland.
November 7 - Dick Spring confirms that he is resigning as leader of the Labour Party.
November 11 - Mary McAleese is inaugurated as the eighth President of Ireland.
November 13 - Ruairí Quinn wins the leadership of the Labour Party.
December 27 - The Loyalist Volunteer Force leader Billy Wright is shot dead in the Maze prison by members of the INLA.