Events during the year 2007 in Northern Ireland.
Incumbents
Events
- 22 January â Report by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland states that the Special Branch of the then Royal Ulster Constabulary had colluded with loyalist paramilitaries in a number of murders and attempted murders in Northern Belfast between 1989 and 2002.
- 28 January â Special Sinn Féin Ard Fheis approves a motion calling for devolution of policing and justice to the Northern Ireland Assembly and support for the police services.
- 30 January, the Prime Minister confirms that assembly elections will go ahead as planned on 7 March. The 'transitional assembly' is thus dissolved, after which campaigning for the elections begins.
- 7 March â Elections took place for the suspended Northern Ireland Assembly.
- April â A 100-metre stainless steel 'spire of hope' is installed on St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast.
- 8 May â Power devolved; Northern Ireland Assembly meets; Ian Paisley becomes the second First Minister of Northern Ireland, with Martin McGuinness as Deputy First Minister.
- 8–10 June â First Garden Show Ireland staged, at Hillsborough Castle, launched by Dermot O'Neill.
- 26 June â Former Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner Al Hutchinson is announced as the successor to Nuala O'Loan as Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland.
- 28 June â Shaun Woodward MP appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
- June â Barbary lion cub is born at Belfast Zoo, the first Barbary lion to be born in Ireland.
- 17 July â Meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council including the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) for the first time.
- 31 July â End of Operation Banner, the British Army deployment in Northern Ireland.
- 30 October â Ryanair starts services from George Best Belfast City Airport.
- October â Peter Robinson, Minister of Finance, introduces the first draft budget for consultation.
- 5 November â Al Hutchinson takes up the post of Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland.
- 13 December â IKEA open their first store in Ireland at the Holywood Exchange, Belfast.
- December â Aer Lingus launch flights from their first base outside the Republic of Ireland at Belfast International Airport.
- 29 December â Nuala O'Loan, former Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, is appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year Honours 2008.
Arts and literature
Sport
Athletics
- 6 January - 30th Belfast International Cross Country Event, Stormont Estate, Belfast.
- 1 February - Armagh International 5k Road Race, The Mall, Armagh.
- 3 February - Northern Ireland and Ulster Cross Country Championships, University of Ulster, Coleraine. Individual winners: Kelly Reid and Brian Campbell.
- 17 February-18 February - Irish Indoor Athletics Championships, Odyssey Arena, Belfast.
Cricket
2007 Cricket World Cup: In a successful world cup debut, the Ireland cricket team qualified from the group stage for the Super 8 stage, notably defeating Pakistan cricket team in the process.
Football
24 March - Liechtenstein 1 - 4 Northern Ireland
28 March - Northern Ireland 2 - 1 Sweden
22 August - Northern Ireland 3 - 1 Liechtenstein
8 September - Latvia 1 - 0 Northern Ireland
12 September - Iceland 2 - 1 Northern Ireland
17 October - Sweden 1 - 1 Northern Ireland
17 November - Northern Ireland 2 - 1 Denmark
21 November - Spain 1 - 0 Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland came third in the group and failed to qualify.
Gaelic Athletic Association
Golf
Motorcycling
Rugby Union
4 February - Wales 9 - 19 Ireland
11 February - Ireland 17 - 20 France
24 February - Ireland 43 - 13 England
10 March - Scotland 18 - 19 Ireland
17 March - Italy 24 - 51 Ireland
Ireland finished in second position in the Championship after France.
Deaths
- 3 January - Sir Cecil Walker, Ulster Unionist Member of Parliament for North Belfast (1983âÂÂ2001), heart attack. (born 1924)
- 8 January - David Ervine, leader of the Progressive Unionist Party, heart attack leading to stroke and brain haemorrhage. (born 1953).
- 8 February - Benedict Kiely, writer, broadcaster and journalist (born 1919).
- 16 February - Norman Miscampbell, British Conservative Party MP (born 1925).
- 22 February - Miriam Mone, fashion designer (born 1965).
- 2 April - Emma Groves, blinded by a rubber bullet in 1971, became a leading campaigner for banning the use of plastic bullets, co-founder of the United Campaign Against Plastic Bullets (born 1920).
- 12 June - Eamonn Coleman, Gaelic footballer and manager (born 1948).
- 24 June - Derek Dougan, footballer (born 1938).
- 1 August - Tommy Makem, folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller (born 1932).
- 6 September - John Kelly, Sinn Féin Councillor and MLA (born 1936).
- 30 September - Len Graham, footballer (born 1925).
- 17 October - Sammy Duddy, member of the Ulster Political Research Group (born 1945).
- 3 November - Martin Meehan, Sinn Féin politician and former volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (born 1945).
- 13 November - Alec Cooke, Baron Cooke of Islandreagh, businessman and politician (born 1920).
- 31 December - Tommy Dickson, footballer (born 1929).
See also
References