2007 in Northern Ireland
Events during the year 2007 in Northern Ireland.
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Incumbents
- First Minister - Ian Paisley (from 8 May)
- deputy First Minister - Martin McGuinness (from 8 May)
- Secretary of State - Peter Hain (until 28 June), Shaun Woodward (from 28 June)
Events
- 22 January – Report by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland states that the Special Branch of the then Royal Ulster Constabulary had colluded with loyalist paramilitaries in a number of murders and attempted murders in Northern Belfast between 1989 and 2002.[1]
- 28 January – Special Sinn Féin Ard Fheis approves a motion calling for devolution of policing and justice to the Northern Ireland Assembly and support for the police services.
- 30 January, the Prime Minister confirms that assembly elections will go ahead as planned on 7 March. The 'transitional assembly' is thus dissolved, after which campaigning for the elections begins.[2]
- 7 March – Elections took place for the suspended Northern Ireland Assembly.
- April – A 100-metre stainless steel 'spire of hope' is installed on St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast.[3]
- 8 May – Power devolved; Northern Ireland Assembly meets; Ian Paisley becomes the second First Minister of Northern Ireland, with Martin McGuinness as Deputy First Minister.[4]
- 8–10 June – First Garden Show Ireland staged, at Hillsborough Castle, launched by Dermot O'Neill.
- 26 June – Former Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner Al Hutchinson is announced as the successor to Nuala O'Loan as Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland.
- 28 June – Shaun Woodward MP appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
- June – Barbary lion cub is born at Belfast Zoo, the first Barbary lion to be born in Ireland.
- 17 July – Meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council including the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) for the first time.
- 31 July – End of Operation Banner, the British Army deployment in Northern Ireland.[4]
- 30 October – Ryanair starts services from George Best Belfast City Airport.
- October – Peter Robinson, Minister of Finance, introduces the first draft budget for consultation.
- 5 November – Al Hutchinson takes up the post of Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland.
- 13 December – IKEA open their first store in Ireland at the Holywood Exchange, Belfast.
- December – Aer Lingus launch flights from their first base outside the Republic of Ireland at Belfast International Airport.
- 29 December – Nuala O'Loan, former Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, is appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year Honours 2008.[5]
Arts and literature
- 8 February - Writer, broadcaster and journalist, Benedict Kiely, dies.
- 16 February - Maria Eagle, direct rule Arts Minister, announces a "one-off payment" of £150,000 to sustain the Belfast Festival at Queen's for one more year.[6]
- 19 October - The 45th Belfast Festival at Queen's opens with a smaller than usual programme due to lack of funding.[6]
- 18 December - Arts Minister, Edwin Poots, announces a grant of £300,000 over three years for Belfast Festival at Queen's.[6]
- Malachi O'Doherty's memoir The Telling Year: Belfast 1972 is publishedl.
Sport
Athletics
- 6 January - 30th Belfast International Cross Country Event, Stormont Estate, Belfast.
- 1 February - Armagh International 5k Road Race, The Mall, Armagh.
- 3 February - Northern Ireland and Ulster Cross Country Championships, University of Ulster, Coleraine. Individual winners: Kelly Reid and Brian Campbell.
- 17 February-18 February - Irish Indoor Athletics Championships, Odyssey Arena, Belfast.
Cricket
2007 Cricket World Cup: In a successful world cup debut, the Ireland cricket team qualified from the group stage for the Super 8 stage, notably defeating Pakistan cricket team in the process.
Football
- 24 March - Liechtenstein 1 - 4 Northern Ireland
- 28 March - Northern Ireland 2 - 1 Sweden
- 22 August - Northern Ireland 3 - 1 Liechtenstein
- 8 September - Latvia 1 - 0 Northern Ireland
- 12 September - Iceland 2 - 1 Northern Ireland
- 17 October - Sweden 1 - 1 Northern Ireland
- 17 November - Northern Ireland 2 - 1 Denmark
- 21 November - Spain 1 - 0 Northern Ireland
- Northern Ireland came third in the group and failed to qualify.
- Other International Matches
- Northern Ireland 0 - 0 Wales (6 February)
- Setanta Cup
- Winners: Drogheda United
- Irish League
- Winners: Linfield
- Irish Cup
- Winners: Linfield
Gaelic Athletic Association
- 15 July - Tyrone defeat Monaghan 1-15 to 1-13 in the final of the Ulster Senior Football Championship.
Golf
- 8 September - 9 September - Walker Cup takes place at Royal County Down Golf Club, Newcastle, County Down.
- Pádraig Harrington wins the British Open in Carnoustie, Scotland. Rory McIlroy wins the silver medal for leading amateur. Darren Clarke misses the cut.
Motorcycling
- 12 May - North West 200
- 17 August - Ulster Grand Prix, Dundrod.
Deaths
- 3 January - Sir Cecil Walker, Ulster Unionist Member of Parliament for North Belfast (1983–2001), heart attack. (born 1924) [9]
- 8 January - David Ervine, leader of the Progressive Unionist Party, heart attack leading to stroke and brain haemorrhage. (born 1953).[10]
- 8 February - Benedict Kiely, writer, broadcaster and journalist (born 1919).
- 16 February - Norman Miscampbell, British Conservative Party MP (born 1925).
- 22 February - Miriam Mone, fashion designer (born 1965).
- 2 April - Emma Groves, blinded by a rubber bullet in 1971, became a leading campaigner for banning the use of plastic bullets, co-founder of the United Campaign Against Plastic Bullets (born 1920).
- 12 June - Eamonn Coleman, Gaelic footballer and manager (born 1948).
- 24 June - Derek Dougan, footballer (born 1938).
- 1 August - Tommy Makem, folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller (born 1932).
- 6 September - John Kelly, Sinn Féin Councillor and MLA (born 1936).
- 30 September - Len Graham, footballer (born 1925).
- 17 October - Sammy Duddy, member of the Ulster Political Research Group (born 1945).
- 3 November - Martin Meehan, Sinn Féin politician and former volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (born 1945).
- 13 November - Alec Cooke, Baron Cooke of Islandreagh, businessman and politician (born 1920).
- 31 December - Tommy Dickson, footballer (born 1929).
See also
References
- "NI police colluded with killers". BBC News. 2007-01-22. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
- "Date set for NI Assembly election". BBC News. 2006-11-16. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
- "Spire of hope to light up city". BBC News. 2007-04-12. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
- Edwards, Aaron (2011). The Northern Ireland Troubles: Operation Banner 1969-2007. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-84908-525-0.
- "O'Loan made dame in honours list". BBC News. 2007-12-30. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
- McCreary, Matthew (2008-02-08). "Festival future looks bright with £1m deal". The Belfast Telegraph. p. 3.
- "Highs and lows on the road to Euro". UEFA Euro 2008 - Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 2007-12-30. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
- "Ireland". RBS Six Nations. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
- Former MP Cecil Walker dies at 81, BBC News
- PUP's Ervine has died in hospital, BBC News
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