- 2006 in Northern Ireland
Events
*
30 January - Postal workers enter a 20 daywildcat strike disrupting most of Belfast's delivery service.
*25 February - Rioting inDublin as Republican protesters organise counter protests to a "Love Ulster " (Unionist) parade in the city, which subsequently become violent.
*17 March - New Oncology Centre is opened atBelfast City Hospital .
*15 May The members of theNorthern Ireland Assembly are recalled 3 and a half years after the assembly was suspended, with a view to electing an executive, and having the suspension lifted
*22 May - Belfast City airport is renamedGeorge Best Belfast City Airport on what would have beenGeorge Best 's 60th birthday.
*1 July - PresidentMary McAleese and leading representatives of all political parties in Ireland, north and south, mark the 90th anniversary of theBattle of the Somme at theNational War Memorial, Islandbridge
*11 October - Multi-party political talks on Northern Ireland held inSt Andrews ,Fife ,Scotland , ending on13 October and resulting in theSt Andrews Agreement .
*18 October - Northern Ireland overtake the Republic of Ireland in the Fifa rankings for the first time. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/6061782.stm BBC article on Northern Ireland's Ranking] ]
*24 November - LoyalistMichael Stone , attempts to bomb theNI Assembly on the first day of the 'transitional assembly' following the St Andrews Agreement and when nominations for first and deputy first minister are due to be made. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6181994.stm] Stormont attack devices defused (BBC news)] [ [http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/1124/northpolitics.html] Ahern welcomes further 'clarity' from Paisley (RTÉ news)]Government
*
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland -Peter Hain
* First Minister - office suspended
* Deputy First Minister - office suspendedArts and literature
*
August -Seamus Heaney suffers astroke from which he recovers, but it requires him to cancel all public engagements for several months. [ "Today Programme",BBC Radio 4 , 16 January 2007.]
*21 October - Renovated and extended Grand Opera House inBelfast is opened.
*3 November -Queen's University Belfast reveals a severe funding crisis and doubts over the long-term future of theBelfast Festival at Queen's [cite news | first=Matthew | last=McCreary | title=Festival future looks bright with £1m deal | work=The Belfast Telegraph | page= 3 | date=2008-02-08 ] .
*Seamus Heaney 's poetry collection "District and Circle " is published and wins theT. S. Eliot Prize .Sport
Athletics
*
18 February -19 February - Irish Indoor Athletics Championships, Odyssey Arena, Belfast.
*Northern Ireland compete in the Commonwealth Games claiming two silver medalsFootball
*"'European Championship Qualifiers [cite web | title=Highs and lows on the road to Euro | work=UEFA Euro2008 - Northern Ireland | url=http://www.uefa.com/competitions/euro/teams/team=63/index.html | accessdate=2008-01-27] :
2 September - Northern Ireland 0 - 3 Iceland:6 September - Northern Ireland 3 - 2 Spain:7 October - Denmark 0 - 0 Northern Ireland:11 October - Northern Ireland 1 - 0 Latvia*Other International Matches
**Northern Ireland 1 - 0 Estonia (1 March )
**Finland 1 - 2 Northern Ireland (16 August )
**Uruguay 1 - 0 Northern Ireland (21 May ) (in USA)
**Romania 2 - 0 Northern Ireland (26 May ) (in USA)*"'
Setanta Cup
**Winners:Drogheda United *Irish League
**Winners:Linfield F.C. *
Irish Cup
**Winners: Linfield 2 - 1 Glentoran* FAI Carlsberg Cup
**Winners: Derry City 4 - 3 St Patrick's Athletic (after extra time)*
December - George Best Memorial Trust launches a fund-raising drive to raise £200,000 in subscriptions to pay for a life-size bronze sculpture ofGeorge Best . [cite news | first=Victoria | last=O'Hara | title=Best memorial plan rescued by fan |work=The Belfast Telegraph | page= 3 | date=2008-01-29 ]Gaelic games
:*
Christy Ring Cup Winners: Antrim:::(Antrim 5-13 : 1-07 Carlow):*
Nicky Rackard Cup Winners: Derry:::(Derry 5-15 : 1-11 Donegal)Golf
*Europe win the
2006 Ryder Cup , held in Kildare Golf and Country Club,Straffan , Co. Kildare from theSeptember 22 to theSeptember 24 .
*British Ladies Amateur Golf Championship is held atRoyal County Down Golf Club , (winner:Belen Mozo ).Ice Hockey
*
Belfast Giants win theElite Ice Hockey League championship.Motorcycling
*
13 May -North West 200 2006 motor cycle road racing takes place.Robert Dunlop wins one of the races, the 15thNorth West 200 win in his career.
*4 July -Joey Dunlop posthumously awarded an honorary Doctorate of the University (DUniv) from theUniversity of Ulster inColeraine .
*9 September -Darran Lindsay , killed while practising for the Killalane road races, nearDublin .Rugby Union
* RBS Six Nations Championship
**Ireland 26 - 16 Italy
** France 43 - 31 Ireland
**Ireland 31 - 5 Wales
**Ireland 15 - 9 Scotland
**England 24 - 28 Ireland::"'Ireland claim the triple crownDeaths
*
5 January -Merlyn Rees 85, thirdSecretary of State for Northern Ireland .
*7 January -Alf McMichael , footballer (b.1927).
*8 January -Tony Banks, Baron Stratford , former Labour Party MP and Minister for Sport (b.1943)
*4 April -Denis Donaldson , volunteer in theProvisional Irish Republican Army , member ofSinn Féin , exposed in 2005 as an informer (b.1950).
*11 April -Siobhán O'Hanlon ,Sinn Féin official (b.1963).
*30 April -Billy McComb , magician andcomedian (b.1922).
*22 May -Richard McIlkenny , one of theBirmingham Six .
*21 June -Denis Faul , monsignor, Northern Ireland civil rights activist, chaplin to prisoners inMaze Prison during1981 Irish Hunger Strike (b.1932).
*17 August -Ken Goodall , international rugby player (b.1947).
*20 August -Bryan Budd , Parachute Regiment Corporal killed on active service inAfghanistan and posthumously awarded theVictoria Cross (b.1977).
*5 September -Anne Gregg travel writer and TV presenter (b.1940).
*9 September -Darran Lindsay , motorcycle road racer, killed while practising (b.1971).
*14 November -John Hallam , actor (b.1941).References
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