1.
1986 in Ireland
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Events from the year 1986 in Ireland. President, Patrick Hillery Taoiseach, Garret FitzGerald 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. 11 February – Irelands new football team manager, Jack Charlton,18 March – Irish citizenship was conferred on Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Tip ONeill, for inspiring constitutional nationalists to launch an initiative for a new Ireland. 31 March – President Hillery and Mrs. Hillery started an official visit to Austria. This was the first Irish state visit there,4 May – radiation from the devastated Chernobyl nuclear reactor in the Ukraine reached Ireland. 6 May – the Divorce Action Group launched its campaign for the divorce referendum. 21 May – eighteen Old Master paintings from the Beit collection were stolen from Russborough House by Martin The General Cahill,30 May – Ireland West Airport Knock, County Mayo was officially opened. 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. 21 June – an anti-divorce rally took place in Dublin,27 June – across the country, counting began in the Divorce Referendum. Tallymen predicted a strong no vote,7 August – the deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, Peter Robinson MP, was arrested and charged with illegal assembly, after a loyalist mob took over a village in County Monaghan. 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 200 millimetres of rain was measured at Kilcoole in County Wicklow. The Dodder and Dargle rivers overflowed leading to flooding of 416 houses and 35 commercial premises in Dublin, November – Giants Causeway and the Causeway Coast became the first Irish UNESCO World Heritage Sites designated. 23 October – thirteen-year-old Philip Cairns disappeared on his way back to school after lunch,30 October – 20p coin enters circulation. December – the Government banned South African food imports, about half the total of South African imports into Ireland,25 December – Dublin Airport was open for the first time on a Christmas Day. 31 December – at the United States Embassy in Dublin, visa applications rose by 25%,17 May – the Self Aid unemployment benefit concert was held in Dublin, featuring dozens of performers. Sigerson Clifford published the edition of his poetry collection Ballads of a Bogman. 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
2.
Republic of Ireland
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Ireland, also known as the Republic of Ireland, is a sovereign state in north-western Europe occupying about five-sixths of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, which is located on the part of the island. The state shares its land border with Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, Saint Georges Channel to the south-east, and it is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The head of government is the Taoiseach, who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President, the state was created as the Irish Free State in 1922 as a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It was officially declared a republic in 1949, following the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, Ireland became a member of the United Nations in December 1955. It joined the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union, after joining the EEC, Ireland enacted a series of liberal economic policies that resulted in rapid economic growth. The country achieved considerable prosperity between the years of 1995 and 2007, which known as the Celtic Tiger period. This was halted by a financial crisis that began in 2008. However, as the Irish economy was the fastest growing in the EU in 2015, Ireland is again quickly ascending league tables comparing wealth and prosperity internationally. For example, in 2015, Ireland was ranked as the joint sixth most developed country in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index and it also performs well in several national performance metrics, including freedom of the press, economic freedom and civil liberties. Ireland is a member of the European Union and is a member of the Council of Europe. The 1922 state, comprising 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland, was styled, the Constitution of Ireland, adopted in 1937, provides that the name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland. Section 2 of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 states, It is hereby declared that the description of the State shall be the Republic of Ireland. The 1948 Act does not name the state as Republic of Ireland, because to have done so would have put it in conflict with the Constitution. The government of the United Kingdom used the name Eire, and, from 1949, Republic of Ireland, for the state, as well as Ireland, Éire or the Republic of Ireland, the state is also referred to as the Republic, Southern Ireland or the South. In an Irish republican context it is referred to as the Free State or the 26 Counties. From the Act of Union on 1 January 1801, until 6 December 1922, during the Great Famine, from 1845 to 1849, the islands population of over 8 million fell by 30%
3.
Republic of Ireland football league system
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The Republic of Ireland football league system currently consists of 12 levels. Traditionally association football leagues in the Republic of Ireland have been classified as either senior and these leagues are effectively national, provincial and county leagues respectively. The two highest level leagues/divisions, the League of Ireland Premier Division and the League of Ireland First Division are both national leagues, together they make up the League of Ireland. The senior/premier divisions of most county leagues are designated as level seven divisions while their lowest divisions are ranked at level twelve. The original top level league for what is now the Republic of Ireland was the Irish Football League, founded in 1890, this league is now the Northern Ireland Football League. Before the partition of Ireland, three Dublin clubs – Bohemians, Shelbourne and Tritonville – played in the Irish Football League, the League of Ireland was founded in 1921 and its Premier Division is now the top level division. The two oldest association football leagues in what is now the Republic of Ireland are the Leinster Senior League, the former was founded in 1896 while the latter first appeared in the early 1900s. In 1964 the League of Ireland formed the first formal national second level division, in 1985, following a reorganization, the B Division was replaced as the second level league by the League of Ireland First Division. As part of reorganization, a promotion and relegation system involving the top two national divisions was introduced for the first time. From 1964–65 until 2008 the Leinster Senior League and the Munster Senior League formed the third level and they were subsequently joined at this level by the Connacht Senior League in 1981 and the Ulster Senior League in 1986. Between 2008 and 2011, the leagues were briefly replaced as the third level by a short lived national third level league known as the A Championship. Following the demise of the A Championship, the provincial leagues regained their third level status, the majority of the Counties of Ireland have an association football league. The two counties with the largest populations – County Dublin and County Cork – both have several active leagues, the senior/premier divisions of most county leagues are designated as level seven divisions while their lowest divisions are usually ranked at level twelve. A promotion and relegation system has existed between the League of Ireland Premier Division and the League of Ireland First Division since 1985–86, between 2008 and 2011, A Championship teams were also eligible for promotion to the First Division. Promotion and relegation systems also operate within the provincial league systems. There is no promotion and relegation relationship between the provincial leagues and the League of Ireland. However it is not uncommon for provincial level teams to be invited to join the League of Ireland, in 2015, Cabinteely of the Leinster Senior League became the most recent team to accept an invite
4.
County Donegal
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County Donegal is a county of Ireland. It is part of the Border Region of the Republic of Ireland and is in the province of Ulster and it is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. Donegal County Council is the council for the county and Lifford serves as the county town. The population of the county is 158,755 according to the 2016 census and it has also been known as Tyrconnell, after the historic territory of the same name. In terms of size and area, it is the largest county in Ulster, uniquely, County Donegal shares a small border with only one other county in the Republic of Ireland – County Leitrim. The greater part of its border is shared with three counties of Northern Ireland, County Londonderry, County Tyrone and County Fermanagh. While Lifford is the county town, Letterkenny is by far the largest town in the county with a population of 19,588, Letterkenny and the nearby city of Derry form the main economic axis of the northwest of Ireland. Indeed, what became the City of Derry was officially part of County Donegal up until 1610, there are two Gaeltacht districts in the west, The Rosses, centred on the town of Dungloe, and Gweedore. Another Gaeltacht district is located in the north-west, Cloughaneely, centred on the town of Falcarragh, the most northerly part of the island of Ireland is the location for three peninsulas of outstanding natural beauty, Inishowen, Fanad and Rosguill. The main population centre of Inishowen, Irelands largest peninsula, is Buncrana, in the east of the county lies the Finn Valley. The Laggan district is centred on the town of Raphoe, according to the 1841 Census, County Donegal had a population of 296,000 people. As a result of famine and emigration, the population had reduced by 41,000 by 1851, by the time of the 1951 Census the population was only 44% of what it had been in 1841. The 2006 Census, undertaken by the States Central Statistics Office, had County Donegals population standing at 147,264, according to the 2011 Census, the countys population had grown to 161,137. It has an indented coastline forming natural sea loughs, of which both Lough Swilly and Lough Foyle are the most notable. The Slieve League cliffs are the sixth-highest sea cliffs in Europe, the climate is temperate and dominated by the Gulf Stream, with warm, damp summers and mild wet winters. Two permanently inhabited islands, Arranmore and Tory Island, lie off the coast, Irelands second longest river, the Erne, enters Donegal Bay near the town of Ballyshannon. The River Erne, along with other Donegal waterways, has been dammed to produce hydroelectric power, the River Foyle separates part of County Donegal from parts of both counties Londonderry and Tyrone. A survey of the marine algae of County Donegal was published in 2003
5.
Cockhill Celtic F.C.
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Cockhill Celtic Football Club is a football club from Ireland currently competing in the Ulster Senior League. The club are based in Buncrana, Cockhill Celtic play their home games at Charlie ODonnell Sports Grounds. The club was founded in 1970 by a group of men who would meet up most evenings to play a game of football. The men would meet in Swans Park, Buncrana were it fulfilled the old football cliché Jumpers for Goalposts, the training, for around 20 members, was held in the Paris Hall, Desertegney. The club initially competed in both the Inishowen Football League as well as the Derry & District League, the club competed in the D&D for four years Westbrook Celtic encountered a problem, around this time, relating to the availability of the pitch in Buncrana. The late Mr. Hugh ODonnell, a local Cockhill man, approached the club and offered the use of a field, in Cockhill, the club accepted this offer and still use this pitch, known as ODonnells Holm, to the present day. The Club, during this period, had now firmly rooted in Cockhill. The older club members agree that the club grew from strength to strength after the change of name. The Youth Club was formed with the assistance of a group of parents from the area, School desks had to be removed on the Friday evening to accommodate the youth clubs activities. A snooker table was set up in the hall and the partitions, table tennis and darts were in one room, with board games and computer games in the other. Around forty children attended the Youth Club at this time, competitions took place for all activities and there was a prize giving night, with an annual disco, held at the end of each year Meanwhile, Cockhill Celtic FC was going from strength to strength. The club was now fielding teams at U13, U15 and U17 level in the Inishowen Youth League, the club thought the new youth set-up was vital to the growing community in the Cockhill area at this time. The new youth structure would help produce future senior players for the club. This, allied with success of the team, made the future bright for Cockhill Celtic on the pitch The Football Club had had success in earlier years. In this season, the club won an unprecedented five trophies, following the clubs success in 1985, it was decided to apply to join the Ulster Senior League. The first season proved difficult in the Ulster Senior League as the club lost a number of players during this period to emigration. The team subsequently rejoined the Inishowen League the following year and attempted to improve the structure of the club to provide players. The club, including the season in the Ulster Senior League, were playing at ODonnells Holm, the new pitch was funded, purely by fundraising in the community with no funding available at this time
6.
Fanad United F.C.
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Fanad United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Fanad, County Donegal. Their senior mens team plays in the Ulster Senior League. In 1986–87 they were founding members and the inaugural champions of the USL and they remain the leagues most successful club. They also field teams in both the Donegal Youth League and the Donegal Womens League and they have previously fielded teams in both the A Championship and the League of Ireland U19 Division. They have regularly competed in the League of Ireland Cup, the FAI Cup, Fanad United was founded in 1972 by Fr. Michael Sweeney, a pioneer of junior and intermediate football in County Donegal. In addition to founding Fanad United, Sweeney was also instrumental in establishing two leagues the club played in, the Donegal League and the Ulster Senior League. He has also served on the board of Finn Harps, between 1972–73 and 1983–84 Fanad United were Donegal champions five times before becoming both founding members and the inaugural champions of the USL in 1986–87. They subsequently became the USLs most successful club, winning fourteen league titles, michael Sweeney also served as Fanad Uniteds team manager and he was responsible for guiding the club to victory in two national cup competitions. In 1978–79 United won the FAI Youth Cup after defeating Shelbourne U19 3–1 in the final at Swilly Park, in 1987–88 they won the FAI Intermediate Cup after defeating Tramore Athletic 1–0 at Dalymount Park. Under player-manager Eamon McConigley, Fanad United won the FAI Intermediate Cup for a time in 1994–95. In 1995–96 they were finalists for a second season but lost to Wayside Celtic. As winners of the Ulster Senior League, Fanad United have regularly been invited to participate in the League of Ireland Cup and their best performance in this competition came in 1987–88 when they reached the semi-finals. After they finished top of their group, following three wins against Sligo Rovers, Derry City and Finn Harps, they qualified for the quarter-finals where they defeated Galway United 1–0, in the semi-final they lost 4–1 to Shamrock Rovers. Fanad United have also achieved notable results in the FAI Cup. In 1991–92, despite going down to nine men, they defeated Home Farm 2–0 away from home in the first round, in the second round they held St Jamess Gate to two 1–1 draws before eventually losing 3–2 in the second replay. In 1995–96 they defeated Bray Wanderers 4–0 at the Carlisle Grounds before losing 3–0 to St Patricks Athletic in the round of sixteen, in the 2005 FAI Cup they played Shamrock Rovers at Dalymount Park losing 2–0. In 2011 Fanad United entered a team in the A Championship and they subsequently finished fourth in their group of eight
7.
Association football in the Republic of Ireland
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Association football, more usually known as soccer or football, is the team sport with the highest level of participation in the Republic of Ireland. It is also the third most popular spectator sport overall with 16% of total attendances at events, behind only Gaelic football. The national governing body for the sport is the Football Association of Ireland, which runs the national team and the League of Ireland. The term football is used interchangeably in Ireland between association football, Gaelic football and Rugby union, for spectators in Ireland, English soccer is extremely popular compared with the domestic league, with up to 120,000 Irish fans travelling to watch games in the UK each year. Irish school children are seen wearing replica shirts of English league teams. In its earliest days, association football was largely confined to the city of Dublin, gradually it became more widespread throughout the country, to the point where in the modern day there are clubs in all of the counties of Ireland. Currently, average attendances at matches in the League of Ireland is around 2,000. Having said that, the best Irish players have followed the best wages. This did not stop the game entering into a period after the second world war when grounds would be full every weekend to watch a league game. It was the start of televised football in England, and the setup in Ireland, that led to a decrease in attendances. The sport is played at all levels in the country, the national teams performance in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, where they reached the quarter-finals is their best to date. Although the sport was being played in Ireland in the 1860s, it was based in Ulster. The Leinster Football Association was formed in 1892 as the game became popular in the area. The League of Ireland was established in 1921, with eight taking part. St. Jamess Gate F. C. won the first title, on 28 May at the Stade Olympique, they beat Bulgaria 1–0, with Paddy Duncan scoring the teams first ever goal. As a result of this they qualified for the quarter-finals, on 14 June 1924, the Irish Free State made their home debut against the United States, who had embarked on a brief European tour after competing in the same Olympics. Ed Brookes scored a hat-trick in a 3–1 home win at Dalymount Park, the Irish Free State did not play their next game until 21 March 1926. This was a game against Italy which they lost 3–0
8.
League of Ireland
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The League of Ireland, together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was used to refer to a single division league. However today the League of Ireland features four divisions – the Premier Division, the First Division, an U19 Division, the League of Ireland has always worked closely with the FAI and in 2006 the two bodies formally merged. All the divisions are currently sponsored by Airtricity and as a result the league is known as the SSE Airtricity League. In 2007, it one of the first leagues in Europe to introduce a salary cap. The leagues most successful club is Shamrock Rovers who have won 17 titles, together with Dundalk, Bohemians and Shelbourne they are one of four clubs in the league to feature a golden star above their badge in recognition of winning ten titles. Bohemians are the club in the league to have played every season in the top division. The League of Ireland was founded in 1921 as a division known as the A Division. The first season featured eight teams, all from County Dublin, the teams that competed in the first season were Bohemians, Dublin United, Frankfort, Jacobs, Olympia, St. Jamess Gate, Shelbourne and YMCA. The eight founding members had spent the 1920–21 season playing in the Leinster Senior League, Bohemians and Shelbourne had played in the 1919–20 Irish League. St Jamess Gate were the inaugural champions, Gate also went on to complete a treble having already won both the 1921–22 FAI Cup and 1921–22 Leinster Senior Cup. In 1922–23 the league was expanded to twelve clubs, among the new members were Shamrock Rovers, who finished as champions, and Athlone Town who became the first team from outside of County Dublin to compete in the league. Together with fellow Dublin clubs teams, Bohemians and Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers would go onto dominate the league during the 1920s, in 1924–25 Bray Unknowns and Fordsons became the second and third teams from outside of County Dublin to join the league. Fordsons also became the first team from Munster to play in the league, the league continued to expand numerically and geographically during its first two decades of existence. In 1926–27 Dundalk were elected to the league and in 1932–33 became the first club from outside of County Dublin to win the title, Dundalk were subsequently joined by Waterford in 1930–31, Cork Bohemians in 1932–33, Sligo Rovers in 1934–35 and Limerick F. C. in 1937–38. In 1936–37, Sligo Rovers became the club from outside of County Dublin to win the title. During The Emergency/Second World War era Cork United emerged as the leagues strongest team, the club won five league titles between 1940–41 and 1945–46, including three in succession. However they subsequently resigned from the league in 1948, the 1950s was marked by the emergence of St Patricks Athletic and the re-emergence of Shamrock Rovers
Ireland