31 January – Ann Lovett, aged 15, died after giving birth to a boy in a grotto in Granard, County Longford. Reporting on the incident on The Gay Byrne Show uncovered many stories from listeners of rape, abortion and sexual abuse.[1]
29 March – The Licensed Vintners Association voted to abolish the Holy Hour in pubs and hotels in Dublin and Cork which close for one hour between 2.30 pm and 3.30 pm. The Hour was introduced during the 1920s by Minister for Justice Kevin O’Higgins.[2]
4 June – Reagan addressed a joint session of the houses of the Oireachtas.[3]
18 June – European Parliament elections were held in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
13 July – The Ford Motor Company assembly plant in Cork closed.[4] The closure of the Dunlop tyre factory in the same city had been announced previously and the Verolme Cork Dockyard was closed as a shipbuilder at the end of the year.
14 July – The Columban missionary Niall O'Brien, who was imprisoned in the Philippines, was released.
19 July – The strongest earthquake ever recorded in Ireland, the 5.4 magnitude Llŷn Peninsula earthquake near Caernarvon in Wales, rocked the Irish eastern seaboard and was felt by many in Dublin. Numerous aftershocks occurred over the following month.[5][6]
28 September – The Dublin telephone system collapsed due to network overload as a result of a phone-in competition on the illegal radio station, Radio Nova.[7]
5 October – Women workers in Dunnes Stores in Dublin, who were on strike for the previous 11 weeks in support of a dispute over the handling of South African fruit, began a sit-in at the store.