1986 in Ireland

Events from the year 1986 in Ireland.

Incumbents

2 January – The national offices of the Progressive Democrats were officially opened.
4 January – Phil Lynott, the lead singer of Thin Lizzy, died aged 35.

18 March – Irish citizenship was conferred on Speaker of [the United States House of Representatives], Tip O'Neill, for inspiring constitutional nationalists to launch an initiative for a new Ireland.
31 March – President Hillery and Mrs. Hillery started a four-day official visit to Austria. This was the first Irish state visit there.

8 April – Jennifer Guinness was kidnapped by three armed men for a IR£2 million ransom. She was the wife of banker, John Guinness, of the Guinness brewing family. She was rescued after eight days by gardaí in Ballsbridge, Dublin.

4 May – Radiation from the devastated Chernobyl nuclear reactor in Ukraine reached Ireland.
6 May – The Divorce Action Group launched its campaign for the forthcoming divorce referendum in June.
21 May – Eighteen Old Master paintings from the Beit collection were stolen from Russborough House by Martin Cahill.
30 May – Ireland West Airport in County Mayo was officially opened.

2 June – Fire destroyed Loreto Convent at St. Stephen's Green in Dublin; six nuns died in the blaze.
6 June – John Stalker was removed from the 'shoot to kill' inquiry.
12 June – Two giant pandas, Ming Ming and Ping Ping, arrived at Dublin Zoo.
26 June – Divorce referendum: A referendum was held to change the Constitution to allow divorce in Ireland. Voters rejected the proposal by 63% to 37%. This decision was later overturned in the 1995 referendum.
29 June – Ten police scuba divers from the Garda Sub Aqua Club completed a 33-hour international underwater swim of 57 nautical miles from Holyhead in Wales to Dún Laoghaire in Ireland. Their sponsored swim contributed to the price of a divers' decompression chamber.

1 August – Monsignor James Horan, Parish Priest of Knock, County Mayo and builder of Ireland West Airport, died suddenly aged 75 in Lourdes, France.
7 August – Clontibret invasion: A large gang of Northern Irish Loyalists crossed the Irish border overnight and attacked the village of Clontibret in County Monaghan. They assaulted and injured police and damaged property to protest against the Anglo-Irish Agreement, signed the previous November. Special Branch detectives arrived and fired shots over the mob to disperse it. The deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party and member of the British parliament, Peter Robinson, was later convicted and fined for illegal assembly.
25–6 August – The remnants of Hurricane Charley struck Ireland. Dublin suffered its worst flooding since records began in 1880, and a new record for the greatest rainfall in one day was set when 200millimetres of rain was measured at Kilcoole in County Wicklow. The River Dodder and River Dargle in County Dublin overflowed leading to flooding of 416 houses and 35 commercial premises.

23 October – Thirteen-year-old Philip Cairns disappeared on his way back to school after lunch.
30 October – The 20 pence coin entered circulation.

November – Giant's Causeway and the Causeway Coast became the first Irish designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

December – The Government banned South African food imports, about half the total of South African imports into Ireland, in protest against apartheid.
25 December – Dublin Airport was open for the first time on a Christmas Day.
31 December – American visa applications at the United States Embassy in Dublin rose by 25%. Thirty thousand people emigrated during 1986.

17 May – The Self Aid unemployment benefit concert was held in Dublin, featuring dozens of performers.
Sigerson Clifford published the second edition of his poetry collection Ballads of a Bogman, including the first publication of "The Boys of Barr na Sráide".
Bob Geldof published his autobiography, Is That It?
Patrick McCabe published his novel, Music on Clinton Street.
John Montague became the first occupant of the Ireland Chair of Poetry.
The film Eat the Peach was released.