istoryworld
Events relating to ireland
The British government declares that northern Ireland will remain British unless the parliament in Stormont decides otherwise
Samuel Beckett's play Waiting for Godot ('En attendant Godot') is first performed in French in Paris
Anglo-Irish novelist Iris Murdoch publishes her first novel, Under the Net
De Valera takes stringent measures against the IRA and Sinn Fein, detaining activists in an internment camp
Irish writer Brendan Behan's autobiographical Borstal Boy is published
On the retirement of de Valera, Sean Lemass succeeds him as leader of Fianna F´il and prime minister of Ireland
Irish author Edna O'Brien publishes her first novel, The Country Girls
Terence O'Neill succeeds Basil Brooke (Lord Brookeborough) as Northern Ireland's prime minister
Terence O'Neill and Séan Lemass, prime ministers of Northern Ireland and Ireland, have two unprecedented meetings
Irish poet Seamus Heaney wins critical acclaim for Death of a Naturalist, his first volume containing more than a few poems
Flann O'Brien's novel The Third Policeman has a great success when published posthumously
The first civil rights march in northern Ireland, in Derry, is halted by the police with batons and water cannon
The Provisional IRA reintroduces terrorism to northern Ireland after Protestants attack a civil rights march
The Northern Irish player George Best is voted European Footballer of the Year
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) is formed in northern Ireland as a coalition of Catholic nationalists and civil-rights campaigners
Ian Paisley and others in northern Ireland form the Democratic Unionist Party, as the intransigent wing of Ulster Unionism
Gerry Adams is imprisoned for suspected IRA links but is released for lack of evidence
Internment without trial, reintroduced in Ulster to deal with the developing crisis, is used at first only against Catholics suspected of terrorism
British paratroops open fire on a civil rights march in Derry, killing thirteen, in what becomes known as Bloody Sunday
Prime minister Jack Lynch leads Ireland into the European Community
Internment is ended in Ulster after the Gardiner Report states that it brings the law into disrepute
Excavation of the 5200-year-old passage grave at Newgrange in Ireland is completed
Lord Mountbatten is killed by an IRA bomb that explodes on his boat in the bay of Donegal
Republican activist Gerry Adams is elected president of Sinn Fein
Bob Geldof forms Band Aid and releases for Ethiopian famine relief the best-selling UK single Do they know its Christmas?
