2012 in Ireland

For Northern Ireland, see 2012 in Northern Ireland.

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See also:	2012 in Northern Ireland Other events of 2012 List of years in Ireland

Events during the year 2012 in Ireland.

Events

January

• The occupation of the Vita Cortex plant in Cork, which closed in December, continued into the new year.
• 1 January — The Government stopped paying expenses to former taoisigh (prime ministers), while sweeping price increases for goods and services, and in value added tax (VAT), affected consumers when decisions announced in Budget 2012 came into effect. A controversial €100 household charge was applied, as were large increases in transport fares, motor taxation, and health insurance costs.
• 2 January — Ireland was battered by bad weather.
• 3 January — A new €2 coin was issued by the Central Bank of Ireland as it celebrated ten years of the euro.
• 3 January — Occupy Cork: The NAMA-listed Stapleton House on Oliver Plunkett Street was occupied in the city.
• 8 January — Fine Gael politician and RTÉ broadcaster Barry O'Neill was involved in controversy when photographs appeared on Facebook of his new wife giving Nazi salutes beside models of Adolf Hitler and other Nazis during their European honeymoon.
• 12 January — Ulster Bank announced plans to cut 950 jobs from its Irish operations by the end of the year, with around 600 to be cut in the Republic of Ireland.
• 13 January — The Criminal Law Defence and the Dwelling Act 2011, drafted after the 2004 death of John Ward, came into effect.
• 14 January — A couple from Clonmel escaped with their lives after the 114,500-tonne Costa Concordia, with more than 4,000 people on board, ran aground off the Italian coast; they soon returned home.
• 15 January — A fatal fishing disaster occurred off the south west coast. Three bodies were later found; two others remain missing.
• 16 January — Occupy Belfast: The Bank of Ireland was occupied in the city.
• 16 January — Seán Quinn, Ireland's richest person as recently as 2008, was declared bankrupt at the High Court.
• 16 January — Proinsias De Rossa resigned as MEP for the Dublin constituency, to be replaced by Emer Costello.
• 22–3 January — The strongest solar proton storm since 2003 created a rare display of the aurora borealis in Ireland that was observed by thousands of people in north County Donegal, and as far south as Charlestown, County Mayo.
• 24 January — Debt campaigners dressed as zombies converged on the Irish embassy in Britain to highlight the presence of zombie banks such as the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (formerly Anglo Irish Bank).
• 25 January — Ireland paid another €1.25 billion to Anglo Irish Bank bondholders against the wishes of the country's people.
• 25 January — Protesters travelled from Galway to Dublin to rally outside Leinster House against the septic tank charge being brought in by the Fine Gael/Labour coalition.
• 25 January — The websites of the Departments of Justice and Finance were disabled by a cyber attack.
• 25 January — The Office of the Data Protection Commission wrote to Dublin City Council about its giving the personal details of 140,000 customers to a private waste company called Greyhound.
• 26 January — An earthquake classified as minor (magnitude 2.2) struck County Donegal.
• 26 January — Dublin officially began its term as the European City of Science 2012.
• 26 January — Dáil Éireann passed the Water Services Amendment Bill, allowing the government to charge rural dwellers for their septic tanks, as well as to inspect them.
• 26 January — Taoiseach Enda Kenny, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, told the world that Irish people "went mad borrowing" from a banking system that spawned greed.
• 26 January — The High Court was told that 11 gardaí were investigating sinister goings-on at Anglo Irish Bank; Mr. Justice Peter Kelly called the revelation "extraordinary".

February

• 1/2 February — Jimmy Harte, a Labour Senator, was involved in controversy over contributions to a misleading story in the Irish Independent on a Polish woman's account of living in Ireland, and subsequent comments on Twitter, which he later withdrew.
• 3 February — Victoria Beckham crashed the website of the Irish Hospice Foundation.
• 6 February — Workers at Galway Airport staged a sit-in.
• 10 February — Eircom admitted that personal details of thousands of eMobile and Meteor customers and hundreds of Meteor staff were contained on three laptops stolen in December 2011.
• 11 February — One of the largest protest marches in Cork city in recent years took place in solidarity with the Vita Cortex sit-in.
• 11 February — France versus Ireland in the 2012 Six Nations Championship was cancelled minutes before kick-off, leaving thousands of disgruntled Irish fans stranded in Paris.
• 13 February — Sir Alex Ferguson telephoned workers involved in the Vita Cortex sit-in to express his support, telling them to "stick in there".
• 16 February — Barry Doyle was convicted of the November 2008 murder of Shane Geoghegan.
• 18 February — Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping began a three-day trip to Ireland.
• 20 February — In "scenes reminiscent of the land wars of the 18th century", a group of housing activists and Joan Collins TD successfully prevented an attempted eviction by the deputy sheriff of a man from his home on Mountrath, County Laois.
• 24 February — Transport Minister Leo Varadkar was heckled and booed by local residents who repeatedly shouted "shame on you" as he attempted to attend a buffet at a Letterkenny hotel.
• 25 February — Demonstrators protesting against the downgrading of schools in Bunbeg, County Donegal, marched on the office of their local TD, Fine Gael Junior Minister Dinny McGinley, while similar protests took place in County Mayo.
• 28 February — The Taoiseach announced a referendum to be held on the Fiscal Compact.
• 29 February — James McClean made his international debut.
• 29 February — Dozens of community groups from counties Donegal, Tipperary, Galway, Limerick and Kerry went to Leinster House to protest against austerity.
• 29 February — Éamon Ó Cuív was sacked as Deputy Leader of Fianna Fáil and Communications Spokesperson of the party after a row with leader Micheál Martin over the Fiscal Compact referendum.
• 29 February — Minister of State Seán Sherlock signed into law a statutory instrument to amend Ireland's copyright legislation in spite of 80,000 signatures being gathered to oppose the move.

March

• 1 March — Catholic priest Father Brian O'Fearraigh spoke out against the Household Charge at a public meeting in Gweedore, County Donegal. Jimmy Harte, a Labour Senator, criticised him, saying "I go to Mass to hear religious instruction".
• 7 March — The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland upheld a complaint against RTÉ made by Seán Gallagher relating to the tweet that derailed his presidential campaign.
• 8 March — The Garda Síochána destroyed the Occupy Dame Street camp in an overnight raid.
• 8 March — Fine Gael's planned photocall celebrating a year in power was cancelled by Taoiseach Enda Kenny at the last minute. Fine Gael TDs and Senators had been expected to "hold coloured stars detailing significant Fine Gael achievements in Government" at the event in Merrion Square.
• 8 March — Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty was expelled from the Dáil after trying to question the appointment of a new Secretary General at the Department of Finance.
• 8 March — Allied Irish Banks (AIB) confirmed a plan to cut 2,500 jobs.
• 9 March — Waterford City Council dismantled the Occupy Waterford campsite.
• 13 March — County Donegal was struck by another earthquake.
• 14 March — The Government was defeated in a vote taken at a meeting of the Oireachtas finance committee after numerous Fine Gael TDs went missing. The motion, tabled by Peter Mathews who was then forced to vote against it following threats from his colleagues, proposed that Central Bank Governor Patrick Honohan be forced to appear before the Oireachtas finance committee by the end of the month.
• 15 March — A convicted Garda killer escaped from prison leading to a massive cross-border manhunt.
• 16 March — U.S. sportswear company Nike, Inc. was involved in controversy over the name of its new Saint Patrick's Day runner - "The Black and Tan".
• 18 March — There was a break-in at justice minister Alan Shatter's home in Dublin.
• 18 March — A passerby stumbled upon the body of a 62 year-old man at his home in central Wexford which lay undiscovered since Christmas. The body was in an advanced state of decomposition and the heating was still on.
• 22 March — The Mahon Tribunal published it findings after 15 years of investigations.
• 22 March — Ireland plunged back into recession.
• 23 March — A County Louth woman subjected to a symphysiotomy was awarded €450,000 by the High Court.
• 24 March — Thousands of people packed to capacity the National Stadium in Dublin for a national rally to protest the household charge payment introduced in the last Budget. Crowds of people unable to get in gathered outside.
• 24 March — Facing expulsion, Bertie Ahern resigned from Fianna Fáil before he could be ousted.
• 25 March — Mr. Kenny goes to China.

June

• 10–17 June — The 50th International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin. Activity venues are the RDS and Croke Park.

The Arts

Film

• 26 January — A video on demand service called Volta was launched by Arts Minister Jimmy Deenihan.
• February — The Guard won The Guardian's annual First Film award.
• 11 February — 9th Irish Film and Television Awards

Literature

• 1 January — Copyright restrictions on James Joyce's major works were lifted.
• February — James Joyce's children's story The Cats of Copenhagen was published for the first time by Ithys Press in Dublin.
• February — A new book of poetry by President Michael D. Higgins was strongly criticised by Professor Kevin Kiely, who said the President of Ireland "can be accused of crimes against literature".
• March — The Hobbit goes on sale in Irish.

Music

Further information: 2012 in Irish music

Television

Further information: 2012 in Irish television

Sports

Association football

Euro 2012

• 10 June — Ireland v Croatia
• 14 June — Spain v Ireland
• 18 June — Italy v Ireland

Friendly internationals

• 29 February — Ireland 1 – 1 Czech Republic
• 26 May — Ireland v Boznia and Herzegovina
• 4 June — Hungary v Ireland

League of Ireland

• 2 March — League begins
• 28 October — League ends
• 4 November — FAI Cup Final

World Cup 2014 qualifiers

• 7 September — Kazakhstan v Ireland
• 12 October — Ireland v Germany
• 16 October — Faroe Islands v Ireland

Rugby union

Heineken Cup

• 20 January — Connacht defeated Harlequins at the Galway Sportsgrounds to claim their first ever victory in the Heineken Cup, though they came bottom of the table in Group 6.

Six Nations

• 5 February — Ireland v Wales
• 11 February — Ireland v France
• 25 February — Ireland v Italy
• 10 March — Ireland v Scotland
• 17 March — Ireland v England

London Olympics

• 11 January — Kieran Behan became the second gymnast representing Ireland to qualify for an Olympic Games, despite expectation that he would never walk again.

Marathons

• 6 February — In Sydney, Richard Donovan from Galway completed seven marathons in 4 days, 22 hrs, 3 mins.

Deaths

January

• 9 January — Bridie Gallagher, 87: ballad singer, from natural causes.
• 10 January —
  • John McCarthy, 61: mental health campaigner, as a result of motor neuron disease.
  • Mary Raftery, 54: journalist, after an illness.
• 11 January — Colm Tucker, 59: former rugby union player, after a short illness.
• 15 January — Pearse Hutchinson, 84: writer and broadcaster.
• 17 January — Aengus Fanning, 69: journalist and editor of the Sunday Independent, cancer.
• 22 January — Paddy Martin, 88: international boxer and father of Micheál Martin, long illness.

February

• 6 February — Noel Kelehan, 76: renowned conductor, jazz pianist, arranger and composer, long illness.
• 7 February — Phil Shanahan, 84: former Tipperary and Dublin hurler, heart condition.
• 8 February — John Cunningham, 66: journalist and editor of the Connacht Tribune (1984–2007), illness.
• 9 February —
  • Emer Í Chuív, 93: last surviving daughter of Éamon de Valera and mother of Éamon Ó Cuív.
  • Gerry Hickey, 67: former programme adviser to Bertie Ahern, cancer.
• 12 February —
  • David Kelly, 82: stage, film and television actor, short illness.
  • Gerry O'Sullivan, 65: consultant surgeon and founder of the Cork Cancer Research Centre, short illness.
• 13 February — Eamon Deacy, 53: former Aston Villa footballer, heart attack.
• 14 February — Kieran Finlay: former Monaghan Gaelic footballer, long illness.
• 18 February —
  • Bertie Messitt, 81: former Olympic athlete, long illness.
  • Quentin Doran-O'Reilly: equestrian journalist, illness.
• 19 February — Ann Comerford-Phelan: former Cork camogie player and All-Ireland-winning captain, short illness.
• 21 February — Máirín Egan, 87: lobbyist and founding member of the Society of Autistic Children.
• 22 February — Frank Carson, 85: comedian and actor, stomach cancer.
• 23 February — Florence Noonan, 68: wife of Minister for Finance Michael Noonan, pneumonia.
• 26 February — Jack Bourke, 80: former Mayor of Limerick, long illness.
• 28 February — Hal Roache, 84: comedian.

March

• 2 March — Louis O'Carroll, 62: psychiatrist and balladeer, car accident.
• 20 March — Jim Stynes, 45: Dublin minor footballer and Aussie rules star, cancer.