Events from the year 2003 in Ireland.

Incumbents

* President: Mary McAleese * Taoiseach: Bertie Ahern ( FF) * Tánaiste:

Mary Harney Mary Harney (born 11 March 1953) is an Irish former politician and the current Chancellor of the University of Limerick. She was leader of the Progressive Democrats party between 1993 and 2006 and again from 2007 to 2008, resuming the role aft ...

( PD) *

Minister for Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

Charlie McCreevy Charles McCreevy (born 30 September 1949) is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services from 2004 to 2010, Minister for Finance from 1997 to 2004, Minister for Tourism and Trade fr ...

( FF) * Chief Justice:

Ronan Keane Ronan Colman Keane (born 20 July 1932) is a retired Irish judge who served as Chief Justice of Ireland from 2000 to 2004, a Judge of the Supreme Court from 1996 to 2004 and a Judge of the High Court from 1979 to 1996. Keane was educated at Bl ...

* Dáil: 29th * Seanad: 22nd

Events

* 21 January – The Spire of Dublin on O'Connell Street was completed. * 16 February – One hundred thousand people in Dublin, and 30,000 in Belfast marched to express their opposition to the imminent invasion of Iraq. * 7 April – President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

of the United States arrived in Northern Ireland for discussions with UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair. He also met Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, and the leaders of the pro-agreement parties. * 21 June – The

2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games ) , Nations participating = 166 , Athletes participating = , Events = 23 sports , Opening ceremony = , Closing ceremony = , Officially opened by = Mary McAleese and Nelson Mandela , Torch Lighter ...

were opened by the former President of South Africa,

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

, in

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

, Dublin. * 31 August – The remains of Belfast mother

Jean McConville Jean McConville (''née'' Murray; 7 May 1934 – December 1972) was a woman from Belfast, Northern Ireland, who was kidnapped and murdered by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and secretly buried in County Louth in the Republic of Ire ...

were found 31 years after she was abducted and murdered by the Provisional IRA, who accused her of being a British Army agent. * 15 September – For the first time, the All-Ireland Football Final was contested by two teams from the same province. Tyrone were victorious over

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

in the first All- Ulster Final. * 27 November – The people of Northern Ireland went to the polls. The

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...

and Sinn Féin made massive gains at the expense of more moderate unionist and nationalist parties.

Arts and literature

* May – Claire Kilroy's debut novel ''All Summer'' was published. * 20 May – Mark O'Rowe's play ''Crestfall'' premièred at the Gate Theatre, Dublin. * 25 November – The contents of Lissadell House in County Sligo were auctioned. * December – amaptocare public art project in Ballymun launched. * Hugo Hamilton's memoir ''The Speckled People'' was published. * Paul Murray's comic novel ''

An Evening of Long Goodbyes ''An Evening of Long Goodbyes'' is a 2003 in literature, 2003 comic novel by Irish people, Irish author Paul Murray (author), Paul Murray. It was shortlisted for the 2003 Whitbread Awards#First Novel, 2003 Whitbread First Novel Award and for the ...

'' was published. * '' My Name Is Red'' by Orhan Pamuk won the International Dublin Literary Award.

Music

Sport

Association football

* The League of Ireland moved from a predominantly winter season to a Scandinavian-style summer season.

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

won the transitional 2002/03 season and Shelbourne won the 2003 championship.

Gaelic games

* All-Ireland Hurling Final – Kilkenny 1–14, Cork 1–11. * All-Ireland Football Final – Tyrone 0–12, Armagh 0–9.

Golf

Nissan Irish Open The Irish Open (currently known as the Horizon Irish Open for sponsorship reasons) () is a professional golf tournament on the European Tour. The Irish Open was first played in 1927 and was played annually, except for the war years, until 1950. ...

was won by Michael Campbell (New Zealand).

Rugby union

* Rugby World Cup – Ireland reached the quarter-finals of the competition before being beaten by France. *

2003 Six Nations Championship The 2003 Six Nations Championship was the fourth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, and the 109th international championship overall. The annual tournament was won by England, who completed a grand slam, and went on to win the 200 ...

: Ireland lost only to England, who won the tournament with a grand slam. *

2002–03 Heineken Cup The 2002–03 Heineken Cup was the eighth edition of the Heineken Cup. Competing teams from France, Ireland, Italy, Wales, England and Scotland, were divided into six pools of four, in which teams played home and away matches against each other. Th ...

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

and Leinster advanced from the pool stage and both were defeated in the semi-finals. The final was played in Lansdowne Road.

Births

* 14 March –

Sean Roughan Sean Patrick Roughan (born 14 March 2003) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Lincoln City. Club career Lincoln City He signed his first professional contract on 28 July 2020 following a successful spell in the Lin ...

, footballer * 16 May –

Louise Little Louise Helen Norton Little ( Langdon; 1894 or 1897) was a Grenadian-born American activist. She was the mother of Malcolm X. Early years and family Louise Norton Langdon Little was born in La Digue, Saint Andrew Parish, Grenada to Ella Lan ...

, cricketer * 6 June – Johnny Kenny, footballer * 7 November –

Lara McDonnell Lara McDonnell (born 7 November 2003) is an Irish actress. She starred as the alternating titular role in the West End production of ''Matilda the Musical'' from 2015 to 2016. She has since landed roles in a number of films. McDonnell appeared ...

, actress

Deaths

;January to June :8 January – Patrick Pery, 6th Earl of Limerick, peer and public servant (born 1930). :21 January –

Tony O'Malley Tony O'Malley (25 September 1913 – 20 January 2003) was an Irish artist. He was born in Callan, County Kilkenny, Ireland. O'Malley was a self-taught artist, having drawn and painted for pleasure from childhood. He worked as a bank officìal u ...

, painter (born 1913). :23 January – Aodhagán Brioscú, last surviving founder of Irish cultural organisation

Gael Linn Gael Linn (, "Gael-with-us") is a non-profit and non-governmental organisation focused on the promotion of the Irish language and the arts. The organisation's funding includes government and lottery sources. History Gael Linn was founded in Ma ...

. :29 January – Mary Reid, one of the "Irish of Vincennes", falsely arrested in France on terrorism charges. :16 February – Seán Ó Cionnaith, Workers' Party politician (born 1938). :25 February – Tom O'Higgins, barrister and judge, Chief Justice, Fine Gael TD and twice defeated Irish presidential candidate (born 1916). :11 March –

Brian Cleeve Brian Brendon Talbot Cleeve (22 November 1921 – 11 March 2003) was a writer, whose published works include twenty-one novels and over a hundred short stories. He was also an award-winning broadcaster on RTÉ television. Son of an Irish fathe ...

, writer and television broadcaster (born 1921). :17 March –

Linda Kavanagh Linda Kavanagh (died 17 March 2003) was a leading member of the Workers' Party and a member of Dublin City Council. Linda Kavanagh died at the age of 46 on 17 March 2003 after a brief illness. A native of Inchicore she joined the Workers' Party ...

, Workers' Party activist and Dublin City Council member. :2 April – Pat Leavy, actress. :6 April – Ian Malone, member of British Army's Irish Guards, shot dead in Iraq (born 1974). :28 May – James Plunkett, novelist, author of ''

Strumpet City ''Strumpet City'' is a 1969 historical novel by James Plunkett set in Dublin, Ireland, around the time of the 1913 Dublin Lock-out. In 1980, it was adapted into a successful TV drama by Hugh Leonard for RTÉ, Ireland's national broadcaster. The ...

''. (born 1920). :30 June – Constance Smith, actress (born 1928). ;July to September :16 July – James Kelly, former Irish Army officer cleared of attempting to import arms for the IRA in the 1970

Arms Trial The Arms Crisis was a political scandal in the Republic of Ireland in 1970 in which Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney were dismissed as cabinet ministers for alleged involvement in a conspiracy to smuggle arms to the Irish Republican Army in North ...

(born 1929). :17 July – Eamonn Leahy, barrister and husband of Cabinet Minister

Mary Hanafin Mary Hanafin (born 1 June 1959) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport from 2010 to 2011, Deputy Leader of Fianna Fáil from January 2011 to March 2011, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Inn ...

. :28 July –

Valerie Goulding Valerie Hamilton, Hon. Lady Goulding (12 September 1918 – 28 July 2003) was an Irish campaigner for disabled people, and senator who set up the Central Remedial Clinic in 1951 alongside Kathleen O'Rourke which is now the largest organisation ...

, former Senator and campaigner for the disabled (born 1918). :3 August – Phil Monahan, founder of Monarch Properties Holdings Limited, leaving an estate worth €26.7 million. :12 August – Kieran Kelly, jump jockey after a racing accident (born 1978). :14 August – Donal Lamont, former Catholic Bishop in

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

(born 1911). :19 August – Dennis Flynn, soldier in Canada, Chairman of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto (born 1923) :20 September – Liam Tobin, longtime ''Árd Rúnaí Roinn na Gaeltachta'' and

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

campaigner :24 September – Tomás MacGabhann, trade unionist and Irish language activist :28 September –

Proinsias Mac Aonghusa Proinsias Mac Aonghusa ( en, link=yes, Francis McGuinness; 23 June 1933 – 28 September 2003) was an Irish journalist, writer, TV presenter and campaigner. Born into an Irish-speaking household, Mac Aonghusa became one of the most noted Ir ...

, journalist, broadcaster, chairman

Bord na Gaeilge (, " Irish Institute"; ) is a public body responsible for the promotion of the Irish language throughout the island of Ireland, including both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It was set up on 2 December 1999, assuming the role ...

, president Conradh na Gaeilge (born 1933). ;October to December :7 October – Frank Roe, former President of the Circuit Court. :16 October – Ernest Bodell, cricketer (born 1928). :10 December – Sean McClory, actor (born 1924). :12 December – John McConnell, economics expert, journalist and civil servant. :27 December – Patrick J. Reynolds, Fine Gael TD and

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

(born 1920). :30 December –

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Michael Courtney Papal Nuncio to

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

who was assassinated. :31 December – Gerald Goldberg, lawyer, Fianna Fáil politician and first Jewish Lord Mayor of Cork (born 1912).

References

{{Year in Europe, 2003