Republic of Ireland Timeline of Events

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Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy, with an elected president serving as head of state...

Timeline of Events

1936

5.22.1936

Aer Lingus (Aer Loingeas) is founded by the Irish government as the national airline of the Republic of Ireland.

1937

12.29.1937

The Irish Free State is replaced by a new state called Ireland with the adoption of a new constitution.

1949

4.1.1949

The twenty-six counties of the Irish Free State become the Republic of Ireland.

4.17.1949

At midnight 26 Irish counties officially leave the British Commonwealth. A 21-gun salute on O'Connell Bridge, Dublin, ushers in the Republic of Ireland.

1973

1.1.1973

Denmark, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland are admitted into the European Community.

10.31.1973

Mountjoy Prison helicopter escape. Three Provisional Irish Republican Army members escape from Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, Republic of Ireland aboard a hijacked helicopter that lands in the exercise yard.

1976

7.21.1976

Christopher Ewart-Biggs British ambassador to the Republic of Ireland is assassinated by the Provisional IRA.

1979

8.27.1979

An IRA bomb kills British World War II admiral Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma and 3 others while they are boating on holiday in Sligo, Republic of Ireland. Another bomb near Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland kills 18 British soldiers.

9.29.1979

Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to set foot on Irish soil with his pastoral visit to the Republic of Ireland.

1980

8.1.1980

Buttevant Rail Disaster kills 18 and injures dozens of train passengers in Ireland.

1990

11.9.1990

Mary Robinson is elected Ireland's first female President and the first from the Labour Party.

1994

1.11.1994

The Irish Government announces the end of a 15-year broadcasting ban on the IRA and its political arm Sinn Féin.

1998

11.26.1998

Tony Blair becomes the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to address the Republic of Ireland's parliament.

2004

3.29.2004

The Republic of Ireland becomes the first country in the world to ban smoking in all work places, including bars and restaurants.