Events during the year 2006 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 ' ...

- Suspended * deputy First Minister - Suspended * Secretary of State -

Peter Hain Peter Gerald Hain, Baron Hain, (born 16 February 1950), is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2005 to 2007, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2007 to 2008 and twice as Secretary of State ...

Events

* 30 January – Postal workers entered a 20-day

wildcat strike A wildcat strike is a strike action undertaken by unionised workers without union leadership's authorization, support, or approval; this is sometimes termed an unofficial industrial action. The legality of wildcat strikes varies between countries ...

disrupting most of Belfast's delivery service. * 25 February –

Rioting A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...

took place in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

as Republican protesters organised counter protests to a " Love Ulster" ( Unionist) parade in the city, which subsequently became violent. * 17 March – New Oncology Centre was opened at

Belfast City Hospital The Belfast City Hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a 900-bed modern university teaching hospital providing local acute services and key regional specialities. Its distinctive orange tower block dominates the Belfast skyline being the th ...

. * 15 May – The members of 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 ...

were recalled 3½ years after the assembly was suspended, with a view to electing an executive, and having the suspension lifted. * 22 May – Belfast City airport was renamed

George Best Belfast City Airport Belfast City Airport, officially George Best Belfast City Airport , is an international airport in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Situated in County Down, it is adjacent to the Belfast Harbour and is from Belfast City Centre. It shares the si ...

on what would have been

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United F.C., Manchester Un ...

's 60th birthday. * 1 July –

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Mary McAleese Mary Patricia McAleese ( ; ; ; born 27 June 1951) is an Irish activist lawyer, academic, author, and former politician who served as the president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. McAleese was first elected as president in 1997, ...

and leading representatives of all political parties in Ireland,

north North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

south South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

, marked the 90th anniversary of the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

at the National War Memorial, Islandbridge. * 18 July – returned to Belfast, where she was built. * 11 October – Multi-party political talks on Northern Ireland were held in

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, ending on 13 October and resulting in the

St Andrews Agreement The St Andrews Agreement (; Ulster Scots: ''St Andra's 'Greement'', ''St Andrew's Greeance'' or ''St Andrae's Greeance'') is an agreement between the British and Irish governments and Northern Ireland's political parties in relation to the de ...

. * 18 October –

overtook the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

in the FIFA rankings for the first time. * 24 November –

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

Michael Stone, attempted to bomb the

on the first day of the 'transitional assembly' following the St Andrews Agreement and when nominations for first and deputy first minister were due to be made.

Arts and literature

* August –

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish Irish poetry, poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Among his best-known works is ''Death of a Naturalist'' (1966), his first m ...

suffered a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

from which he recovered, but it required him to cancel all public engagements for several months. * 21 October – Renovated and extended Grand Opera House in

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 ...

was opened. * 3 November –

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

revealed a severe funding crisis and doubts over the long-term future of the

Belfast Festival at Queen's Belfast International Arts Festival, formerly known as Belfast Festival at Queen's, claims to be the city's longest running international arts event. Originally established in 1962, it was hosted by Queen's University until 2015, after which a n ...

. *

's poetry collection ''

District and Circle ''District and Circle'' is a poetry collection by Seamus Heaney, who received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. It was published in 2006 and won the 2006 T. S. Eliot Prize, the most prestigious poetry award in the UK. The collection also won ...

'' was published and won the T. S. Eliot Prize.

Sport

Athletics

* 18 February–19 February – Irish Indoor Athletics Championships, Odyssey Arena, Belfast. *

competed in the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

claiming two silver medals

Football

* European Championship Qualifiers :2 September –

0–3

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

:6 September – Northern Ireland 3–2

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

:7 October –

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

0–0 Northern Ireland :11 October – Northern Ireland 1–0

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

* Other International Matches ** Northern Ireland 1–0

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

(1 March) **

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

1–2 Northern Ireland (16 August) **

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

1–0 Northern Ireland (21 May) (in United States) **

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

2–0 Northern Ireland (26 May) (in United States) *

Setanta Cup The Setanta Sports Cup was a club football competition featuring teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland. Inaugurated in 2005, it was a cross-border competition between clubs in the League of Ireland from the Republic of Ir ...

** Winners:

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club is a professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches at Sullivan & Lambe Park. The current club is the ...

* Irish League ** Winners:

Linfield F.C. Linfield Football Club is a Northern Ireland, Northern Irish professional Association football, football club, based in south Belfast, which plays in the NIFL Premiership – the highest level of the Northern Ireland Football League. The four ...

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

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club based in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882 and has since won more than 130 major honours. They are one of three Northern Iris ...

* FAI Carlsberg Cup ** Winners: Derry City 4–3 St Patrick's Athletic (after extra time) * December –

George Best Memorial Trust George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A skillful dribbler, he is considered one of the greatest players of ...

launches a fund-raising drive to raise £200,000 in subscriptions to pay for a life-size bronze sculpture of

Gaelic games

Christy Ring Cup The Christy Ring Cup () is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The cup forms the third-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is the first-tier trophy). It is ...

Winners: Antrim :::( Antrim 5–13 : 1–07

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had a population of 27,351, the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland, ...

) **

Nicky Rackard Cup The Nicky Rackard Cup (; often referred to as the Rackard Cup) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The cup forms the fourth-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Champi ...

Winners:

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

:::(

5–15 : 1–11 Donegal)

Golf

* Europe win the

2006 Ryder Cup The 36th Ryder Cup Matches were held 22–24 September 2006 in Ireland at the Palmer Course of the K Club in Straffan, County Kildare, west of Dublin. It was the first time the event was played in Ireland. Europe won by 18 to 9 points, equall ...

, held in Kildare Golf and Country Club,

Straffan Straffan () is a village in County Kildare, Ireland. It is situated on the banks of the River Liffey, 25 km upstream of the Irish capital Dublin. As of the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, the village had a population of 1,158, an over ...

, Co. Kildare from 22 to 24 September. *

British Ladies Amateur Golf Championship The Women's Amateur Championship, previously known as the Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship, was founded in 1893 by the Ladies' Golf Union. It is organised by The R&A, which merged with the Ladies' Golf Union in 2017. Until the dawn of th ...

was 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: Belen Mozo).

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 ...

won the

Elite Ice Hockey League The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to internationally as the British Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey Superleague, it is the highest level ...

championship.

Motorcycling

* 13 May –

North West 200 2006 The 2006 North West 200 Races took place on Saturday 13 May 2006 at the 8.966 mile circuit, dubbed "The Triangle", based around the towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush, in Northern Ireland. Steve Plater and Bruce Anstey both scored d ...

motor cycle road racing took place.

Robert Dunlop Stephen Robert Dunlop (25 November 1960 – 15 May 2008) was a Northern Irish motorcycle racer. He was the younger brother of fellow road racer Joey Dunlop and the father of racers William Dunlop and Michael Dunlop. Like his brother, Dunlop ...

won one of the races, the 15th

North West 200 The International North West 200 is a motorcycle racing, motorcycle road racing, road race first held in 1929 on a street circuit known as "the Triangle" between the towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush in Causeway Coast and Glens. It ...

win in his career. * 4 July –

Joey Dunlop William Joseph Dunlop (25 February 1952 – 2 July 2000) was a Northern Irish roadracing motorcyclist from Ballymoney, County Antrim. In 2015, he was voted Northern Ireland's greatest-ever sports star. Dunlop lies second on the list of all-ti ...

posthumously awarded an honorary Doctorate of the University (DUniv) from the

University of Ulster Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...

. * 9 September –

Darran Lindsay Darran Lindsay (1971–2006) was a Northern Irish motorcycle road racer. He was killed on 9 September 2006 in practice for the Killalane road races, near Dublin. It is understood that his 600cc machine was in collision with another bike. He live ...

, killed while practising for the Killalane

road races Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily closed public ...

, near

Rugby Union

* RBS Six Nations Championship **

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

26–16

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

43–31 Ireland ** Ireland 31–5

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

** Ireland 15–9

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

24–28 Ireland ::Ireland claimed the triple crown

Deaths

* 5 January –

Merlyn Rees Merlyn Merlyn-Rees, Baron Merlyn-Rees, (né Merlyn Rees; 18 December 1920 – 5 January 2006) was a British Labour Party politician and Member of Parliament from 1963 until 1992. He served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1974–1 ...

85, third

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland The secretary of state for Northern Ireland (; ), also referred to as Northern Ireland Secretary or SoSNI, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the Northern Ireland Office. The offi ...

. * 7 January – Alf McMichael, footballer (born 1927). * 8 January –

Tony Banks, Baron Stratford Anthony Louis Banks, Baron Stratford (8 April 1942 – 8 January 2006) was a British politician who served as Minister for Sport from 1997 to 1999. A member of the Labour Party, he was a member of Parliament from 1983 to 2005 and subsequently ...

, former Labour Party MP and Minister for Sport (born 1943) * 4 April –

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 ...

volunteer Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency ...

in the

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

, member of

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 ...

, exposed in 2005 as an informer (born 1950). * 11 April – Siobhán O'Hanlon,

official (born 1963). * 30 April – Billy McComb, magician and

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

(born 1922). * 22 May – Richard McIlkenny, one of the

Birmingham Six The Birmingham Six were six men from Northern Ireland who were each sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975 following their false convictions for the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings. Their convictions were declared unsafe and unsatisfactory and q ...

. * 21 June –

Denis Faul Denis O'Beirne Faul (14 August 1932 – 21 June 2006), was an Irish Roman Catholic priest best known, in the course of the Northern Ireland Troubles, for publicising security-force abuses and, controversially among Irish republicans, for h ...

, monsignor, Northern Ireland civil rights activist, chaplain to prisoners in

Maze Prison HM Prison Maze (previously Long Kesh Detention Centre, and known colloquially as the Maze or H-Blocks) was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from August 1971 to September 2000. On 15 ...

during

1981 Irish Hunger Strike The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during the Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976 when the British government withdrew Special Categ ...

(born 1932). * 17 August –

Ken Goodall Ken Goodall is a rugby player (23 February 1947 – 17 August 2006) an Irish rugby union and rugby league player. He was an Irish international and British Lions player and vice principal at Faughan Valley High School, which is now part of ...

, international rugby player (born 1947). * 20 August –

Bryan Budd Bryan James Budd, (16 July 1977 – 20 August 2006) was a British Army soldier and a Northern Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces ...

, Parachute Regiment

Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

killed on active service in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and posthumously awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

(born 1977). * 5 September – Anne Gregg travel writer and TV presenter (born 1940). * 9 September –

, motorcycle road racer, killed while practising (born 1971). * 14 November –

John Hallam John William Francis Hallam (28 October 1941 – 14 November 2006) was a character actor from Northern Ireland, who frequently played hard men or military types. Early life John Hallam was born, the son of a superintendent at the Port o ...

, actor (born 1941).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2006 In Northern Ireland 2006 in Europe 2006 by country