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← 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1997 in Ireland → 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
See also:	1997 in Northern Ireland Other events of 1997 List of years in Ireland

Events from the year1997 in Ireland

• President:
  • Mary Robinson (until 12 September 1997)
  • Mary McAleese (from 11 November 1997)
• Taoiseach:
  • John Bruton (FG) (until 26 June 1997)
  • Bertie Ahern (FF) (from 26 June 1997)
• Tánaiste:
  • Dick Spring (Lab) (until 26 June 1997)
  • Mary Harney (PD) (from 26 June 1997)
• Minister for Finance:
  • Ruairi Quinn (Lab) (until 26 June 1997)
  • Charlie McCreevy (FF) (from 26 June 1997)
• Chief Justice:Liam Hamilton
• Dáil:
  • 27th (until 15 May 1997)
  • 28th (from 26 June 1997)
• Seanad:
  • 20th (until 10 July 1997)
  • 21st (from 17 September 1997)

• Thereal estate andproperty rental websiteDaft.ie was launched in 1997 by brothers Brian and Eamonn Fallon.^[1]

• 8 January – Russia sought to widen its ban on the importation of Irish beef due tobovine spongiform encephalopathy.

• 27 February – A new law providing for divorce came into effect.

• 6 March –Michael Lowry resigned as a member of theFine Gael party.
• 7 March –PresidentMary Robinson metPope John Paul II in the Vatican.
• 17 March – The new national independent radio station,Radio Ireland, went on the air.
• 21 March – The British supermarket companyTesco bought the IrishQuinnsworth andCrazy Prices supermarket chains.^[2]

• 8 April – AuthorFrank McCourt was awarded thePulitzer Prize for his bookAngela's Ashes.

• 6 June – In thegeneral election,Fianna Fáil won a plurality of seats and formed a coalition government with theProgressive Democrats.Bertie Ahern replacedJohn Bruton asTaoiseach, andMary Harney of the Progressive Democrats becameTánaiste andMinister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
• 12 June – President Mary Robinson was appointedUN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
• 16 June –National University of Ireland, Maynooth came into existence with the commencement of the Universities Act, 1997.
• 25 June – Film makers arrived for two months of shooting atCurracloe, County Wexford to re-create theD-Day Normandy invasion scenes forSteven Spielberg's filmSaving Private Ryan.^[3]

• 3 July – Taoiseach Bertie Ahern met United Kingdom Prime MinisterTony Blair for the first time.
• 6–11 July –Nationalist riots in Northern Ireland: There was violence in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland after anOrange Order parade was allowed down the Garvaghy Road by theRoyal Ulster Constabulary inPortadown as part of theDrumcree conflict.
• 9 July – Counsel forCharles Haughey admitted that the former taoiseach accepted £1.3 million from businessmanBen Dunne.
• 20 July
  • TheIrish Republican Army instituted a second ceasefire.
  • TheNational Famine Memorial was unveiled by President Mary Robinson inMurrisk, County Mayo.^[4][5]

• 31 August – The British ambassador to Ireland, Veronica Sutherland, led tributes toDiana, Princess of Wales, killed in Paris.

• 6 September
  • Thousands of people queued at the British Embassy in Dublin to sign condolences for Princess Diana. Three books of condolence were made available due to the large turnout. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Tánaiste Mary Harney, Minister for Foreign Affairs Ray Burke, the Fine Gael party's Nora Owen, and the Labour party's Ruairi Quinn all signed their condolences. Thousands of bouquets and cards were left at the gates of the embassy. Books of condolence were also made available at the Mansion House in Dublin and at City Hall in Cork.
  • Flags on state buildings flew at half mast as a mark of respect for Princess Diana on the day of her funeral.
• 7 September – A special service of remembrance for Princess Diana was held at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, attended by the president, Mary Robinson (on one of her final official engagements as president), and the taoiseach, Bertie Ahern.
• 12 September – Mary Robinson resigned as president to assume her new role as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
• 18 September – The convertedCollins Barracks in Dublin re-opened to house theNational Museum of Ireland's Decorative Arts and History collections.^[6]

• 7 October – Substantial all-party peace talks began in Northern Ireland.
• 10 October – At aProvisional Irish Republican Army General Army Convention held atFalcarragh, County Donegal, a majority supported the ceasefire.^[7][8]
• 31 October -Mary McAleese won the presidential election.

• 1 November – TheHepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act, 1997, took effect.
• 7 November –Dick Spring confirmed that he was resigning as leader of theLabour Party.
• 11 November – Mary McAleese was inaugurated as the eighth President of Ireland, the first time in the world that one woman succeeded another as elected head of state.
• 13 November –Ruairi Quinn won the leadership of the Labour Party.
• 30 November –Eileen Costello O'Shaughnessy, a 47-year-old taxi driver from Galway, was killed in a violent attack while working. The crime was unsolved.^[9]
• Unknown date – IRA members opposed to the ceasefire, led byMichael McKevitt, met at a farmhouse inOldcastle, County Meath, and formed a new organisation,Óglaigh na hÉireann, which became known as theReal Irish Republican Army.^[10]

• 27 December – TheLoyalist Volunteer Force leaderBilly Wright was shot dead in the Maze prison in Northern Ireland by members of theIrish National Liberation Army.

• 3 May – Ireland staged theEurovision Song Contest, hosted byRonan Keating andCarrie Crowley. The Irish entry,Mysterious Woman sung byMarc Roberts, came second.
• 30 June – The American animated comedy television seriesThe Simpsons premiered onNetwork 2 beginning with the final episode ofseason 1 "Some Enchanted Evening".
• 4 July –Conor McPherson's playThe Weir premièred at theRoyal Court Theatre Upstairs in London.
• 13 July –Neil Jordan's filmThe Butcher Boy was released in Ireland.
• 24 November – The first episode aired of the RTÉ television programme,A Scare at Bedtime.
• 31 December –Jim Sheridan's filmThe Boxer was released, starringDaniel Day-Lewis.
• Raidió Teilifís Éireann rebranded its television channelNetwork 2 as "N2".
• Danny Osborne'sOscar Wilde Memorial Sculpture was unveiled inMerrion Square, Dublin.
• John Banville's novelThe Untouchable was published.

• Shelbourne won theFAI Cup for the fifth time.
• The first everLeague of Ireland match to be broadcast live on television was fromTolka Park betweenShelbourne andDerry City onNetwork 2.

• Kerry won theNational Football League, beating Cork 3–7 to 1–8 in the final.
• Kerry won theAll-Ireland Senior Football Championship winners for the first time since 1986, following a 0–13 to 1–7 victory overMayo in the final.
• Limerick beatGalway 1–12 to 1–9 in theNational Hurling League final.
• Clare beatTipperary by 0–20 to 2–13 in theAll-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final. It was their second title in three years.

• TheMurphy's Irish Open was won byColin Montgomerie (Scotland).

• Ken Doherty became world snooker champion following an 18 frames to 12 victory overStephen Hendry at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield.

• 13 January –Tim O'Mahony, hurler (Newtownshandrum,Cork).
• 15 January –Alex Cardillo, actor.
• 1 April –Darragh Fitzgibbon, hurler (Charleville,Cork).
• 13 April –Kelly Thornton, actress.
• 14 May –David Griffin, hurler (Carrigaline,Cork).
• 25 August –Shane Kingston, hurler (Douglas,Cork).
• 7 November –Robbie O'Flynn, hurler (Erin's Own,Cork).
• 23 December –Mark Coleman, hurler (Blarney,Cork).
• 26 December –Alex Murphy, actor.

• 5 January –James Comyn, formerJustice of the High Court of England (born 1921).
• 31 January –John Joseph Scanlan, second bishop of theRoman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu (born 1906).
• 2 February –Seán Ó Síocháin, formerGaelic Athletic Association president.
• February –Reg Ryan, association football player (born 1925).
• 17 April –Chaim Herzog, sixthPresident of Israel (1983–1993) (born 1918).
• 12 March –William Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel, peer andLabour Party (UK) politician (born 1906).
• 2 May –Robin Kinahan, Unionist politician and businessman (born 1916).
• 9 May –Thomas FitzGerald, Earl of Offaly (born 1974).
• 19 May –Mervyn Wall, novelist and dramatist (born 1908).^[11]
• 23 May –Noel Browne, politician, former cabinet minister (born 1915).
• 24 May –Edward Mulhare, actor (born 1923).
• 16 June –Michael O'Herlihy, television director (born 1929).
• 18 June –Julia Clifford, fiddle player and traditional musician (born 1914).
• 25 September –Jim Kemmy,Labour Party andDemocratic Socialist Party TD (born 1936).
• 20 December –Jim Gibbons, formerFianna Fáil TD,Member of the European Parliament and cabinet minister (born 1924).
• 29 December –John Graham,Irish Republican Army activist in the 1940s (born 1915).

• 1997 in Irish television

• 1997 atReeling in the Years

• 1997 in Ireland
• 1990s in Ireland
• Years of the 20th century in Ireland
• 1997 in Europe
• 1997 by country

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