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2008 in Ireland

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Events from the year 2008 in Ireland.

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Incumbents

Events

January

  • 2 January – The Burlington Hotel in Dublin closed after 36 years in business with the loss of 400 jobs.[1]
  • 4 January – An unforecast blizzard hit the country, leading to the heaviest snowfall in Ireland since December 2000.
  • 8 January – Clare O'Leary became the first Irish woman to reach the South Pole.
  • 9 January – After days of heavy rainfall in the southwest, serious flooding occurred in Fermoy and Mallow with parts of Mallow under 1.3 metres of water.[2]
  • 13 January – Following months of protest, Aer Lingus completed its last Shannon to Heathrow flight.
  • 16 January – Wayne O'Donoghue was released from prison after serving three years of a four-year jail term for the manslaughter of Robert Holohan (aged 11) in January 2005.[3]
  • 21 January – €4bn was wiped off the Irish Stock Exchange due to the effects of the 2008 financial crisis.
  • 23 January – The brother of a Real IRA leader was one of two Irish citizens arrested in Lithuania on suspicion of buying firearms and explosives for the Real IRA.[4]
  • 25 January – The closure of the Jacob's biscuit plant in Tallaght, County Dublin, was announced, with the loss of 220 jobs by March 2009.[5]
  • 26 January – Martin Foley ("The Viper") was shot in Dublin possibly as part of a feud between criminal gangs. It was the fifth failed attempt on Foley's life.[6]

February

March

  • 5 March – A jury found Brian Kearney guilty of the murder of his wife, Siobhán Kearney, at their home in Goatstown, Dublin in February 2006.[10]
  • 12 March – Libertas lobby group launched a campaign called Facts, not politics which advocated a No vote in the Treaty of Lisbon referendum.[11]
  • 14 March – The Economic and Social Research Institute predicted that economic growth in Ireland for 2008 will be 1.6%, the lowest level since 1988. It was also forecast that no new jobs will be added to the Irish economy for the first time since 1991.[12]
  • 24 March – RTÉ last broadcast radio programmes on the medium wave.[13]
  • 26 March – Farmer Michael Hanrahan, 60, and his son Denis Hanrahan, 27, were found shot dead at their home in Moyvane, County Kerry.

April

  • 2 April – Bertie Ahern announced that he would resign as Taoiseach on 6 May.
  • 8 April – Brian Cowen was elected as the seventh leader of the Fianna Fáil party.
  • 12 April – Patrick Hillery, sixth Irish President, former government minister, and European Commissioner, died aged 84.
  • 15 April – The legal case of broadcaster Pat Kenny and his neighbour, Gerard Charlrton, involving the claiming of an area of land near their home, was settled in court. It was decided that Kenny would pay an undisclosed sum of money for the land called Gorse Hill.
  • 17 April – Ciarán Cannon became the leader of the Progressive Democrats party.
  • 21 April – It was revealed that four laptop computers belonging to Bank of Ireland and containing personal information of approximately 10,000 customers were stolen between June and October 2007.
  • 30 April – Bertie Ahern became the sixth Irish leader to address both houses of the United States Congress.

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

  • 6 November – €750 million worth of cocaine was seized off the Irish coast in Operation Seabight.
  • 8 November – Rugby player Shane Geoghegan was shot dead outside his home in Limerick in a case of mistaken identity. The murder led to a nationwide appeal to the end of gangland killing in Ireland.

December

  • 6 December – 2008 Irish pork crisis: All Irish pork products were recalled following an announcement that animal feed used since 1 September might contain between 80 and 200 more times dioxins than the recognised safety limit.
  • 11 December – Irish pork was confirmed to be safe and began to return to the market.
  • 15 December – Celine Cawley, founder and manager of the advertising agency Toytown Films and a former Bond girl (A View to a Kill), was found murdered at her home in Howth, Dublin.[18]
  • 20 December – Labour Party Teachta Dála Sean Sherlock called on Bishop of Cloyne, John Magee to resign after a report on child sexual abuse by clergy in his diocese found the Roman Catholic Church had not responded appropriately to abuse allegations.[19]
  • 31 December – Three teenagers in Nenagh, County Tipperary became the final Irish road traffic accident victims of 2008, a year which ended with the fewest traffic deaths since records began, according to Transport Minister Noel Dempsey.[20]

Year long

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Arts and literature

Sport

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Perspective

Association football

  • Internationals
6 February – Ireland 0–1 Brazil
24 May – Ireland 1–1 Serbia
6 September – Georgia 1–2 Ireland
10 September – Montenegro 0–0 Ireland
15 October – Ireland 1–0 Cyprus

Athletics

Gaelic games

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 2008 (Winners – Tyrone)
National Football League 2008 (Winners – Derry)
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2008 (Winners – Kilkenny)
National Hurling League 2008 (Winners – Tipperary)

Golf

Rugby league

2008 Rugby League World Cup
Ireland reach the final 6 knockout stage

Rugby union

2008 Six Nations Championship
2 February – Ireland 16–11 Italy
9 February – France 26–21 Ireland
23 February – Ireland 34–13 Scotland
8 March – Ireland 12–16 Wales
15 March – England 33–0 Ireland

Ireland come fourth, their lowest finishing position since 1999

2007–08 Heineken Cup
Munster champions – Toulouse 13–16 Munster

Olympics

Beijing Olympics
Ireland at the 2008 Summer Olympics – 3 medals
Ireland at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – 5 medals
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Deaths

Thumb
Patrick Hillery died on 12 April
Thumb
Ronnie Drew died on 16 August
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See also

References

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