1996 in Ireland

Events from the year 1996 in Ireland.

Incumbents

 * President: Mary Robinson
 * Taoiseach: John Bruton (FG)
 * Tánaiste: Dick Spring (Lab)
 * Minister for Finance: Ruairi Quinn (Lab)
 * Chief Justice: Liam Hamilton
 * Dáil: 27th
 * Seanad: 20th

Events

 * 24 January – The international body proposed six principles of democracy and non-violence ('the Mitchell principles') as conditions for entry to all-party talks in Northern Ireland.
 * 5 February – The Football Association of Ireland appointed Mick McCarthy as manager of the Irish football team.
 * 9 February – A large Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) bomb exploded in the London Docklands area, near Canary Wharf, injuring around forty, and marking the end of a 17-month IRA ceasefire.
 * 11 March – The Hepatitis Tribunal opened in Dublin.
 * 26 April – The fifth People In Need Telethon was held.
 * 7 June – Detective Garda Jerry McCabe was shot dead by the PIRA in Adare, County Limerick.
 * 17 June – The Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland was signed into law, repealing the absolute constitutional prohibition of divorce.
 * 26 June – Crime reporter Veronica Guerin was shot dead in her car in Dublin.
 * 4 August – The Proceeds of Crime Act, 1996 was signed into law providing for the seizure of the suspected proceeds of organised criminal activity.
 * 11 September – A new £100 note depicting Charles Stewart Parnell was issued, with a red-and-brown front and a green-and-yellow back, to replace the 68-year-old £100 note.
 * 25 September – The last Magdalene asylum closed, in Waterford.
 * 11 October – The Criminal Assets Bureau Act, 1996 was signed into law providing for the creation of the Criminal Assets Bureau.
 * 31 October – The new Irish language television station TnaG was launched.
 * 29 November – It was revealed that Dunnes Stores paid £208,000 for an extension to Minister Michael Lowry's house.
 * 13 December – On the opening day of a Dublin summit, EU leaders achieved a breakthrough in the argument over preparations for a single European currency.
 * 23 December – French film-maker Sophie Toscan du Plantier was murdered outside her holiday home in Schull, County Cork.
 * Undated
 * Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud was the first in Dublin to be awarded two Michelin stars.

Arts and literature

 * 1 February – Martin McDonagh's black comedy The Beauty Queen of Leenane was premiered by the Druid Theatre Company in Galway.
 * 11 February – The television drama series Ballykissangel first aired. It was made by BBC Northern Ireland and set in a rural Irish community.
 * 18 May – Ireland won the Eurovision Song Contest for the seventh time with The Voice, sung by Eimear Quinn and composed by Brendan Graham.
 * 7 August – Marie Jones' play Stones in His Pockets was premiered in Belfast.
 * 26 September – Enda Walsh's play Disco Pigs was premiered by the Corcadorca Theatre Company at the Triskel Arts Centre in Cork.
 * 31 October – Ireland's first Irish language television station, Teilifís na Gaeilge (TnaG), was launched. On 3 November the soap opera Ros na Rún was first aired on the channel.
 * 6 November – The film Michael Collins was shown in Cork and Dublin.
 * The following novels were published:
 * Evening Class by Maeve Binchy.
 * Reading in the Dark by Seamus Deane.
 * Headbanger by Hugo Hamilton.
 * Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married by Marian Keyes.
 * The Story of the Night by Colm Tóibín.

Association football

 * St Patrick's Athletic won the League of Ireland.
 * Shelbourne won the FAI Cup.

Boxing

 * 9 March – Steve Collins, "The Celtic Warrior", successfully defended his World Boxing Organization super middleweight title against Neville Brown at the Green Glens Arena, Millstreet, County Cork.

Gaelic football

 * Meath beat Mayo in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final, after a replay, to win their first title since 1988.

Golf

 * Murphy's Irish Open was won by Colin Montgomerie (Scotland).

Hurling

 * Wexford beat Limerick in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final. It was their first senior All-Ireland since 1968.

Olympics

 * Swimmer Michelle Smith won three gold medals and one bronze in the Atlanta Olympics.

Births

 * 3 January – Cian Lynch, hurler (Patrickswell, Limerick)
 * 24 January – Seán Finn, hurler (Bruff, Limerick)
 * 26 January – Gary Cully, boxer
 * 2 February – Paul Mescal, actor
 * 5 May – Mark McKenna, actor and musician
 * 29 May – Tom Morrissey, hurler (Ahane, Limerick)
 * 28 October – Una Raymond-Hoey, cricketer
 * 16 November – Brendan Murray, singer
 * 6 December – Ann Skelly, actress
 * 31 December – Barry Nash, hurler (South Liberties, Limerick)

January to June

 * 8 January – Joyce McCartan, community activist.
 * 12 February – James Camlin Beckett, historian.
 * 18 February – Cathal Ó Sándair, writer (born 1922).
 * 9 March – Ollie Walsh, Kilkenny hurler (born 1937).
 * 5 April – Gerry L'Estrange, member of the Seanad, Fine Gael TD.
 * 22 April – Molly Keane, novelist and playwright (born 1904).
 * 24 April – Tomás de Bhaldraithe, Irish language scholar and lexicographer (born 1916).
 * 9 June – Patrick Flynn, Liberal Party of Canada MP (born 1921).
 * 10 June – Peter Raftery, diplomat.
 * 26 June – Veronica Guerin, journalist, murdered by drug dealers (born 1958).

July to December

 * 9 July – Christopher Casson, actor (born 1912).
 * 16 July – Joe Dunn, Jacob's Award-winning documentarian for the Radharc television programme, broadcasting educator, publisher, author (born 1930).
 * 6 August – Havelock Nelson, composer and pianist (born 1917).
 * 18 August – Charles Mitchel, actor and television newsreader, read the first Telefís Éireann news bulletin in 1961 (born 1920).
 * 25 August – Erskine Barton Childers, diplomat writer and broadcaster, son of President Childers (born 1929).
 * August – Kathleen Mills, camogie player (born 1923).
 * 11 November – Liam Naughten, Fine Gael politician, Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann from 1995 until his death. (born 1944).
 * 24 November – Michael O'Hehir, sports commentator and journalist (born 1920).

Full date unknown

 * Seán 'ac Dhonncha, traditional singer (born 1919).