Editing 1987 in Ireland

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{{Use Hiberno-English|date=August 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{YearInIrelandNav|1987}}
Events from the year '''1987 in Ireland'''.

==Incumbents==
* [[President of Ireland|President]]: [[Patrick Hillery]]
* [[Taoiseach]]:
** [[Garret FitzGerald]] ([[Fine Gael|FG]]) (until 10 March 1987)
** [[Charles Haughey]] ([[Fianna Fáil|FF]]) (from 10 March 1987)
* [[Tánaiste]]:
** [[Dick Spring]] ([[Labour Party (Ireland)|Lab]]) (until 20 January 1987)
** [[Peter Barry (politician)|Peter Barry ]] ([[Fine Gael|FG]]) (from 20 January 1987 until 10 March 1987)
** [[Brian Lenihan Snr|Brian Lenihan]] ([[Fianna Fáil|FF]]) (from 10 March 1987)
* [[Minister for Finance (Ireland)|Minister for Finance]]:
** [[John Bruton]] ([[Fine Gael|FG]]) (until 10 March 1987)
** [[Ray MacSharry]] ([[Fianna Fáil|FF]]) (from 10 March 1987)
* [[Chief Justice of Ireland|Chief Justice]]: [[Thomas Finlay (judge)|Thomas Finlay]]
* [[Dáil Éireann|Dáil]]:
** [[24th Dáil|24th]] (until 20 January 1987)
** [[25th Dáil|25th]] (from 10 March 1987)
* [[Seanad Éireann|Seanad]]:
** [[17th Seanad|17th]] (until 3 April 1987)
** [[18th Seanad|18th]] (from 25 April 1987)

== Events ==

=== January ===

* 1 January – The [[Halfpenny (Irish decimal coin)|halfpenny coin]] was withdrawn from circulation.
* 20 January – [[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]] ministers resigned from the government because of disagreement over budget proposals.

=== February ===

* 19 February – A [[1987 Irish general election|general election]] returned a [[Fianna Fáil]] minority government after the [[Fine Gael]]–[[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]] coalition collapsed. [[Charles Haughey]] became [[taoiseach]] by one Dáil vote. The new [[Progressive Democrats]] party won 14 seats.

=== March ===

* 11 March – Former taoiseach [[Garret FitzGerald]] resigned as leader of the Fine Gael party and was succeeded by [[Alan Dukes]].
* 22 March – The [[Irish National Lottery]] was launched.

=== May ===

* 8 May – [[Loughgall ambush]]: The British [[Special Air Service]] killed eight [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) members and a civilian in [[Loughgall]], County Tyrone.
* 9 May – [[Johnny Logan (singer)|Johnny Logan]] won the [[Eurovision Song Contest 1987|Eurovision Song Contest]] for Ireland with his own composition ''[[Hold Me Now (Johnny Logan song)|Hold Me Now]]'', making him the only person to win the competition twice as a performer.
* 26 May – A referendum was held on the [[Single European Act]]. Nearly 70% voted in favour of the [[Tenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland|tenth amendment to the Constitution]].

=== July ===

* 26 July – [[Stephen Roche]] won the [[1987 Tour de France|Tour de France]], the first Irish cyclist to do so.

=== November ===

* 8 November – [[Remembrance Day bombing]]: Eleven people were killed and 63 were injured by an IRA bomb during a [[Remembrance Day]] service in [[Enniskillen]].
* 10 November – The funeral took place of broadcaster [[Eamonn Andrews]].
* 29 November – [[Beaumont Hospital, Dublin|Beaumont Hospital]] opened in Dublin.

=== December ===

* 5 December – [[Downpatrick and County Down Railway|Downpatrick and Ardglass Railway]] began public operation, the first [[Irish gauge]] [[heritage railway]] in Ireland.<ref>{{cite book|first=Gerry|last=Cochrane|title=Back in Steam: the Downpatrick and County Down Railway from 1982|location=Newtownards|publisher=Colourpoint|year=2009|isbn=978-1-906578-29-9|page=95}}</ref>
* Undated – [[Cooley Distillery]] began producing [[Irish whiskey]].

==Arts and literature==
{{See also|1987 in Irish television}}

* [[U2]] released ''[[The Joshua Tree]]'' album<ref>{{cite book|first=Peter|last=Buckley|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ctjc6UWCm4C&pg=PT1132|title=The Rough Guide to Rock|publisher=Rough Guides|year=2003|page=1125|isbn=9781843531050}}</ref> to international acclaim.
* [[Maeve Binchy]]'s novel ''[[Firefly Summer]]'' was published.
* [[Roddy Doyle]] published his first novel, ''[[The Commitments (novel)|The Commitments]]'', the first volume of ''[[The Barrytown Trilogy]]'', about a group of unemployed young people on the north side of Dublin who start a soul band.
*[[Kíla]], the [[Irish folk music|folk]]/[[world music]] group, was formed in the [[Irish language]] secondary school, [[Coláiste Eoin]] in [[County Dublin]].

==Sport==

=== Association football ===
* 11 November – [[Republic of Ireland national football team|Ireland]] qualified for their first major international tournament when Scotland pulled off a shock 1–0 win in [[Sofia]] against Bulgaria. [[Gary Mackay]] scored the only goal with just three minutes left to put Ireland into the [[1988 European Football Championship|Euro 88]] tournament in West Germany.

=== Cycling ===
[[File:Stephen ROCHE.jpg|right|thumb|alt=Stephen Roche|Stephen Roche]]
* 6 September – Cyclist [[Stephen Roche]] completed a remarkable treble by winning the [[1987 Giro d'Italia|Giro d'Italia]], the [[1987 Tour de France|Tour de France]], and the [[1987 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race|World Championship]].

=== Gaelic football ===
* [[Meath GAA|Meath]] defeated [[Cork GAA|Cork]] by 1–14 to 0–11 to win the [[All-Ireland Senior Football Championship]].

=== Golf ===
* The [[Irish Open (golf)|Carroll's Irish Open]] golf tournament was won by [[Bernhard Langer]] ([[West Germany]]).

=== Hurling ===
* [[Galway GAA|Galway]] defeated [[Kilkenny]] by 1–12 to 0–9 to win the [[1987 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship|All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship]].

== Births ==

[[File:Shane Long.png|right|thumb|alt=Shane Long born in January.|[[Shane Long]], born in January.]]
[[File:Shane Lowry 8107.jpg|right|thumb|alt=Shane Lowry born in April.|[[Shane Lowry (golfer)|Shane Lowry]], born in April.]]
* 2 January – [[Cathal Naughton]], [[Cork GAA|Cork]] hurler.
* 9 January – [[Nicola Coughlan]], actress
* 22 January – [[Shane Long]], association footballer.
* 24 January – [[Ruth Bradley]], television actress.
* 30 January – [[Becky Lynch]], professional wrestler.
* 4 February – [[Darren O'Dea]], association footballer.
* 5 February – [[Denis McLaughlin]], association footballer.
* 14 February – [[James Chambers (Irish footballer)|James Chambers]], association footballer.
* 16 March – [[Diarmuid O'Carroll]], association footballer.
* 2 April – [[Shane Lowry (golfer)|Shane Lowry]], golfer
* 13 April – [[Conor Sammon]], association footballer.
* 23 April – [[Kelly Gough]], actress.
* 12 May – [[Darren Randolph]], association footballer.
* 20 May – [[Pa Cronin]], [[Cork GAA|Cork]] hurler.
* 21 May – [[Chris McCann (footballer)|Chris McCann]], association footballer.
* 7 July – [[Diarmuid Connolly]], [[Dublin GAA|Dublin]] [[Gaelic football]] and [[hurling]] player.
* 9 July – [[Jonny Hayes]], association footballer.
* 28 September – [[Gary Deegan]], association footballer.
* 2 June – [[Graeme Mulcahy]], hurler ([[Kilmallock GAA|Kilmallock]], [[Limerick GAA|Limerick]]).
* 2 October – [[Séamus Hickey]], hurler ([[Murroe-Boher GAA|Murroe-Boher]], [[Limerick GAA|Limerick]]).
* 11 October – [[Richie McCarthy]], hurler ([[Blackrock GAA (Limerick)|Blackrock]], [[Limerick GAA|Limerick]]).
* 16 October – [[Eric McGill]], association footballer.
* 9 November – [[Tom Condon (hurler)|Tom Condon]], hurler ([[Limerick GAA|Limerick]]).
* 14 November – [[Brian Gleeson (actor)|Brian Gleeson]], actor 
* 16 November – [[T. J. Reid]], [[Kilkenny GAA|Kilkenny]] hurler.
* 13 December – [[Billy Clarke (footballer, born 1987)|Billy Clarke]], association footballer.

== Deaths ==
* 2 January – [[Roger McHugh]], professor, author and playwright (born 1908).
* 4 January – [[Eudie Coughlan]], [[Cork GAA|Cork]] hurler (born 1900).
* 14 January – [[Ewart Milne]], poet (born 1903).
* January – [[Billy King (cricketer)|Billy King]], cricketer (born 1902).
* 8 April – [[Kevin McNamara (bishop)|Kevin McNamara]], Archbishop of Dublin (born 1926).
* 19 April – [[Con Cremin]], diplomat (born 1908).
* 22 April – [[Bill Hayes (footballer, born 1915)|Bill Hayes]], association footballer (born 1915).
* 23 April – [[Oliver J. Flanagan]], [[Fine Gael]] [[teachta dála]] (TD) and cabinet minister (born 1920).
* 27 April – [[Maurice Gibson]], Northern Irish judge (born 1913).
* 8 May – [[Jim Lynagh]], [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) member killed in an ambush by the British [[Special Air Service]] during an IRA attack on [[Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade#The ambush|Loughgall]] Royal Ulster Constabulary station (born 1956).
* 22 June – [[John Hewitt (poet)|John Hewitt]], poet (born 1907).
* 30 June – [[Tommy O'Connor]], association footballer.
* 20 July – [[Denis J. O'Sullivan]], [[Fine Gael]] TD (born 1918).
* 18 October – [[Michael Lipper]], [[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]] TD (born 1932).
* 25 October – [[Ivan Beshoff]], last survivor of the Russian [[Russian battleship Potemkin#Mutiny|''Potemkin'' mutiny]] (born 1882/4 in the Russian Empire).
* 29 October – [[Monk Gibbon]], poet and author (born 1896).
* 5 November – [[Eamonn Andrews]], broadcaster (born 1922).
* 25 November – [[James McDyer]], Roman Catholic priest and community leader (born 1910).
* 8 December – [[Peadar Livingstone]], priest and historian (born 1930).
* 9 December – [[Seán Brosnahan]], Treasurer Irish National Teachers Organisation, member of the [[Seanad Éireann|Seanad]] from 1961 to 1977 (born 1911).

===Full date unknown===
* [[Jimmy Warnock]], boxer (born 1912).

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Years in Ireland}}
{{Year in Europe|1987}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:1987 in Ireland}}
[[Category:1987 in Ireland| ]]
[[Category:1980s in Ireland]]
[[Category:Years of the 20th century in Ireland]]
[[Category:1987 by country|Ireland]]