Events during the year 2002 in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Incumbents

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...

David Trimble William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, (15 October 1944 – 25 July 2022) was a Northern Irish politician who was the inaugural First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2002 and leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 1995 to 20 ...

(until 14 October) * deputy First Minister -

Mark Durkan Mark Durkan (born 26 June 1960) is a retired Irish nationalist politician from Northern Ireland. Durkan was the deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from November 2001 to October 2002, and the Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Pa ...

(until 14 October) * Secretary of State - John Reid (until October 24), Paul Murphy (from October 24)

Events

*9 January –

Holy Cross dispute The Holy Cross dispute occurred in 2001 and 2002 in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast, Northern Ireland. During the 30-year conflict known as the Troubles, Ardoyne had become segregated – Ulster Protestants and Irish Catholics lived in separat ...

: Confrontations outside Holy Cross Primary School, a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

girls' school in the largely

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Ardoyne Ardoyne () is a working class and mainly Roman Catholic Church, Catholic and Irish republicanism, Irish republican district in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. In 1920 the adjacent area of Marrowbone saw at multiple days of communal violence be ...

district, during the afternoon school run, explode into widespread sectarian rioting which spreads across north

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

and continues on 10 January, when the school is closed. *14 February –

Kilkeel Kilkeel () is a small town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish on the Irish Sea coast of County Down, Northern Ireland. It is the main fishing port on the Down coast, and its harbour is home to the largest fishing fleet in Northern Irel ...

fishing boat '' The Tullaghmurray Lass'' is lost with all three crew in the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

. *February – West Belfast Task Force recommends creation of the

Gaeltacht Quarter, Belfast The Gaeltacht Quarter ( ) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is an area surrounding the Falls Road in the west of the city. A Gaeltacht is an area where the Irish language is spoken. Unlike the traditional Gaeltacht areas in the Republic of Ireland, ...

. *14 March –

Lisburn Lisburn ( ; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with t ...

and

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, standing on the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Down, Down and County Armagh, Armagh. It is near Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, the border with the ...

are granted

city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a monarch, national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, ci ...

. *5 April – The first recruits of the new

Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ; Ulster-Scots: '), is the police service responsible for law enforcement and the prevention of crime within Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it ...

graduate. *May –

May 2002 Belfast riots The May 2002 Belfast riots were riots that occurred in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. On Saturday May 2002, up to 800 people were involved in sectarian clashes beginning shortly after the Scottish Cup Final in which Rangers F.C. beat Celtic F.C ...

*31 May to 3 June –

2002 Short Strand clashes The 2002 Short Strand clashes, also known as the siege of Short Strand, was a series of major sectarian violence and gun battles in and around the Short Strand area of east Belfast – a mainly Irish/Catholic enclave surrounded by Protestant co ...

*4 October – "

Stormontgate Stormontgate was the controversy surrounding an alleged Provisional Irish Republican Army spy ring and intelligence-gathering operation based in Stormont, the parliament building of Northern Ireland. The term was coined in October 2002 after t ...

Denis Donaldson Denis Martin Donaldson (1950 – 4 April 2006) was a member of the IRA and Sinn Féin. He was killed following his exposure in December 2005 as an informer in the employ of MI5 and the Special Branch of the Police Service of Northern Ireland ...

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

’s Northern Ireland Assembly group administrator, and two others are arrested for intelligence-gathering. *14 October – The

Northern Ireland Assembly The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...

and the Executive are suspended by order of the Secretary of State. *Work is completed on the renovation of the

Albert Memorial Clock, Belfast The Albert Memorial Clock (more commonly referred to as the Albert Clock) is a clock tower situated at Queen's Square in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was completed in 1869 and is one of the best known landmarks of Belfast. History In 1865 a ...

Arts and literature

* David Park's novel ''The Big Snow'' is published. *

Richard Dormer Richard Dormer (born 11 November 1969) is an actor and playwright from Northern Ireland. He is best known for his roles as Beric Dondarrion in the HBO television series ''Game of Thrones'' and Dan Anderssen in Sky Atlantic's '' Fortitude''. Ea ...

's one-man play ''Hurricane'' (based on the life of snooker player

Alex Higgins Alexander Gordon Higgins (18 March 1949 – 24 July 2010) was a Northern Irish professional snooker player and a two-time world champion who is remembered as one of the most iconic figures in the sport's history. Nicknamed "Hurricane Higgi ...

) opens at the Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast.

Sport

Football

* Irish League ::Winners:

Portadown Portadown ( ) is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is based on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population ...

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary Association football, football single elimination, knockout cup compet ...

::Winners: Linfield 2 – 1

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

::Winners: Derry City 1 – 0

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

Gaelic Athletic Association

Ulster Senior Football Championship The Ulster Senior Football Championship is an inter-county competition for Gaelic football teams in the Irish province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and begins in April. The final is ...

Final ::

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

1–14 – 1–10 Donegal *

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) () is the premier inter-county competition in Gaelic football. County (Gaelic games), County teams compete against each other and the winner is declared All-Ireland Champions. Organised by the ...

Final ::

1–12 – 0–14 Kerry

Golf

Senior British Open Championship The Senior Open Championship, or simply The Senior Open (and originally known as the Senior British Open), is a professional golf tournament for players aged 50 and over. It is jointly owned and run by The R&A, the same body that organises The O ...

held at

Royal County Down Golf Club Royal County Down Golf Club is a golf club in Northern Ireland, located in Newcastle, County Down, Newcastle, Newry, Mourne and Down. It opened on 23 March 1889 and is one of the oldest golf clubs in Ireland. It has two 18-hole links (golf), lin ...

, (winner:

Noboru Sugai Noboru Sugai is a Japanese professional golfer. Sugai was born in Tokyo, to a Japanese father and a Russian mother. He turned professional in 1975 and has won three tournaments and over 275 million ¥ on the Japan Golf Tour. In 2002, he beca ...

). *

Graeme McDowell Graeme McDowell (born 30 July 1979) is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland. He has a total of eleven tournament victories on the European Tour, and four on the PGA Tour, including one major championship, the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble B ...

turns professional and wins that season's

Volvo Scandinavian Masters The Scandinavian Masters was an annual golf tournament on the European Tour played in Sweden. In 2020, the tournament became co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour and was rebranded as the Scandinavian Mixed, in which both male and female go ...

Ice Hockey

Belfast Giants The Belfast Giants (known officially as the Stena Line Belfast Giants due to sponsorship) are a professional ice hockey team based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They compete in the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League, Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). T ...

win the

Ice Hockey Superleague The British Ice Hockey Superleague (BISL, also known as the Sekonda Ice Hockey Superleague from 1998 to 1999 for sponsorship reasons) was a professional ice hockey league in the United Kingdom between 1996 and 2003. Devised in 1995, it replaced ...

championship.

Deaths

*8 January – David McWilliams, singer, songwriter and guitarist (born 1945). *26 February –

Helen Megaw Helen Dick Megaw (1 June 1907 – 26 February 2002) was an Irish crystallographer who was a pioneer in X-ray crystallography. She made measurements of the cell dimensions of ice and established the Perovskite crystal structure. Education and ...

, crystallographer (born 1907). *19 March – David Beers Quinn, historian (born 1909). *13 April –

Desmond Titterington James Desmond Titterington (1 May 1928 – 13 April 2002) was a British racing driver from Northern Ireland. He was born at Cultra, near Holywood, County Down. He participated in one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix, on 14 July 1956. He ...

, racing driver (born 1928). *17 May –

James Chichester-Clark James Dawson Chichester-Clark, Baron Moyola (12 February 1923 – 17 May 2002) was the penultimate Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and eighth leader of the Ulster Unionist Party between 1969 and March 1971. He was Member of the Northern I ...

, Fifth Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (born 1923). *28 August –

Jim McFadden James Alexander McFadden (April 15, 1920 – August 22, 2002) was a professional ice hockey forward. He was born in Belfast, United Kingdom and raised in Darlingford, Manitoba, in the Opawaka district. One of six players born in Ireland to play ...

, ice hockey player (born 1920). *3 October – John Erritt, Deputy Director of the British Government Statistical Service (born 1931). *17 October - Derek Bell, harpist and composer (born 1935).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2002 In Northern Ireland