1981 In Ireland

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1981 In Ireland

1980 In Ireland ,
Other Events Of 1981 ,
1982 In Ireland and the
List Of 'years In Ireland' .

EVENTS

February 14 - Forty-eight young people die in a fire at the Stardust Ballroom in Artane , Dublin .

March 1 - Bobby Sands begins a hunger strike at the Long Kesh prison in Belfast .

March 5 - The petrol strike ends as 800 tanker drivers resume work.

April 10 - Bobby Sands is elected MP for Fermanagh - South Tyrone .

May 2 - An Aer Lingus Boeing 737 en route from Dublin to London is hijacked and ordered to fly to Tehran . The flight is diverted to Paris and the hijacker, Laurence Downey , is arrested.

May 5 - Bobby Sands dies on the 66th day of his hunger strike in the Maze Prison in Belfast .

May 12 - Francis Hughes , previously the most wanted man in the North, dies on the 59th day of his hunger strike in Belfast .

May 21 - Raymond McCreesh and Patsy O'Hara both die on the 61st day of their hunger strike in the Maze Prison .

June 30 - Fine Gael leader Dr. Garret FitzGerald is elected Taoiseach .

July 8 - IRA hunger striker Joseph McDonnell dies. He is the fifth person to die.

August 1 - Hunger striker Kevin Lynch dies.

August 2 - Kieran Doherty , TD for Cavan - Monaghan , dies on the 73rd day of his hunger strike.

September 11 - The Irish Sugar Company announces that it is to close its factory in Tuam , County Galway .

September 14 - Artist and writer Christy Brown is buried in Dublin .

December 27 - Supporters of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children march in Dublin to demand a referendum for a pro-life amendment to the Constitution.

ARTS AND LITERATURE

Molly Keane 's novel '' Good Behaviour '' is published.

SPORTS

BIRTHS

DEATHS

March 23 - Sir Claude Auchinleck , soldier.

April 8 - Gretta Bowen , artist.

July 7 - Dónal Foley , journalist.