26 January – Edwin Curry from Kilkenny was sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted of 189 counts of indecent assault against children between 1964 and 1985.[18][19][20]
28 January – Former national swimming coach Ger Doyle was convicted of 34 counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault against children in his care and sentenced to six and half years in prison.[21][22][23]
23 February – former Green Party leader Trevor Sargent resigned as a Minister of State after accepting that he made 'an error of judgment' in contacting gardaí about a case involving a constituent.[41]
Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Martin Cullen resigned from politics after seeking medical advice.[42][43]
President of East TimorJosé Ramos-Horta began his two-day first official state visit to Ireland by meeting Taoiseach Brian Cowen, urging the country to continue providing economic support as a priority nation and receiving an honorary doctorate from University College Dublin.[44][45]
The Adelaide and Meath Hospital in Tallaght blamed "systemic and process failures" for more than 57,000 X-rays taken between 2005 and 2009 not being reviewed by medical professionals and admitted at least two patients received incorrect treatment, one of whom died and the other who is receiving cancer treatment.[49][50]
A national strike by taxi drivers led to work stoppages at the country's three main airports, closed O'Connell Street in Dublin, and blocked other streets, while the High Court ordered protesters to leave their sit-in at the Commission for Taxi Regulation headquarters.[51][52][53]
23 March – The taoiseach reshuffled his cabinet.[66]
29 March – The new Limerick to Galwayrail line was officially launched, reopening the rail links between the two cities for the first time in 34 years.[67]
April
2 April – Alcohol was served in pubs and hotels in Limerick on Good Friday after businesses were given special legal permission to do so because of the Munster versus Leinster rugby match in the Celtic League at Thomond Park. Drinkers in Limerick benefited from an "area exemption order", which was introduced in section 10 of the Intoxicating Liquor Act 1962. This exemption was granted by a District Court judge to cover a special event, enabling pubs in Limerick to serve alcohol between the hours of 6pm and 11.30pm.[68][69]
The Supreme Court ruled that Acts of the Oireachtas or Statutory Instruments are not constitutionally obliged to be provided in both the English and Irish languages after a ten-year campaign led by Pól Ó Murchú.[84]
11 May
Several substances commonly sold in head shops were outlawed with immediate effect by the government.[85]
Several people were injured by police as protesters attempted to storm Dáil Éireann in a campaign against bank bail-outs.[86][87][88] An investigation is launched.[89]
13 May
Taoiseach Brian Cowen gave a speech in which he admitted for the first time that "domestic vulnerabilities" nearly caused Ireland's banking system to collapse.[90]
TánaisteMary Coughlan dismissed concerns about Ireland's sovereignty being under threat by the European Commission's "peer review" policy,[91] calling it "populism that is inappropriate and incorrect".[92]
The government defeated by 77–72 a Fine Gael party motion calling for a date to be set for a by-election due in Waterford.[99]
20 May – 186 Irish peacekeepers serving in Chad returned to Dublin, meaning no large battalions were working abroad for the first time in three decades.[100]
26 May – The government defeated by 72–68 the Fine Gael Bye-Election Bill in Dáil Éireann] following the government's reluctance to hold by-elections for vacant seats in Donegal South-West, Waterford and Dublin South.[105]
1 June – Taoiseach Brian Cowen promised that the archive storage of electronic and paper records for future use is working fine.[112]
3 June
Dáil Éireann was suspended for ten minutes of the morning due to rowdy scenes in the chamber as the opposition complained of "muzzling of parliament".[113]
Fianna Fáil senator Larry Butler resigned the party whip due to an expenses scandal.[115]
The M3 road was officially opened, two months sooner than anticipated.[116]
The Health Service Executive said 151 children or young adults that it knew of died in the past decade, in addition to the 37 deaths in its care that it announced the previous week.[117]
5 June – Fianna Fáil senator Ivor Callely resigned the party whip due to an expenses scandal.[118]
7 June
Five Irish activists from the MV Rachel Corrie arrived back in Dublin after being deported from Israeli detention.[119][120]
Dozens of people protested against the government's continuing attempts to close cancer services at St. Luke's Hospital in Dublin.[121]
8 June
The Health Service Executive was criticised when a pregnant woman was told in error by medical staff at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda that her baby was dead.[122]
The Health Service Executive published a report saying an elder abuse service received more than 1,800 allegations of abuse in the past year.[123]
The funeral of Daniel McAnaspie, who went missing while in state care, took place in Finglas West.[124]
14 June – Fine Gael party leader Enda Kenny dismissed his Opposition Spokesperson on Finance Richard Bruton after learning of his bid to overthrow him.[130]
17 June – Enda Kenny survived a vote of no confidence.[132]
14 June – The Catholic Church paid out-of-court damages of more than €250,000 to a woman abused by paedophile priest Brendan Smyth.[133]
15 June
The Saville Inquiry into Bloody Sunday in 1972 was published, prompting an apology from the prime minister of the UK, David Cameron, while the civilians targeted by British paratroopers were confirmed to have been wrongly killed.[134]
An Israeli diplomat was expelled from Ireland as punishment for the country's misuse of forged Irish passports in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai.[137]
16 June – The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre reported an increase in calls of more than 41 percent from the previous year.[138]
17 June – Ireland's Catholic bishops asked the government to provide a free vote for all TDs and senators on the Civil Partnership Bill, accusing them of trying to make same-sex relationships "as similar as possible to marriage" in what they perceived to be a violation of the Constitution of Ireland. John Gormley said: "I thought we had left the era of church interference behind us".[139]
19 June – Around 40,000 people availed of the only opportunity to walk beneath the River Shannon via the Limerick Tunnel as it officially opened.[140]
The Railway Safety Commission reported that 2009 was a good year, with no passengers killed or seriously injured and only three trespassers and one construction worker being killed.[146]
Dáil Éireann legalised the passing of files connected to the death of children in state care from the Health Service Executive to Mary Harney.[147]
24 June
Authorities investigated a Health Service Executive training fund from which 31 trips abroad were extracted, including trips to Australia, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and the United States.[148] The HSE complains about it.[149]
Mary Harney promised she would not sell off the site of St. Luke's Hospital after she merged it into the Health Service Executive.[150]
The Health Service Executive announced the closure of Louth County Hospital's emergency department, despite years of campaigning by local people for it to be kept open.[158]
One member of an alleged Russian spy ring operating in the United States was accused of misusing a false Irish passport.[161]
The Wildlife Bill, outlawing stag hunting, passed successfully through Dáil Éireann, with the government winning the vote 75-72 (75–71 in a walk-through vote).[162]
30 June – Mary Harney's Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, designed to dismantle the board at St. Luke's Hospital and merge the hospital's staff and assets into the Health Service Executive, passed through Dáil Éireann.[163]
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny named his new team, including his challenger Richard Bruton and former leader Michael Noonan, while James Reilly replaced Bruton as the party's deputy leader.[166]
14 September – Taoiseach Brian Cowen gave a controversial nine-minute interview to Cathal Mac Coille on the Morning Ireland radio programme from a Fianna Fáil think-in in Galway; the interview received international attention and led to increased pressure for Cowen to resign.[171][172][173]
29 September – A male protester drove a cement truck as far as the gates of Leinster House early in the morning. It came with the slogan "Anglo Toxic Bank" and its number plate read as "bankrupt"; the man was promptly arrested by gardaí.[174]
October
30 October – Ten thousand people attended a rally held in opposition to service cuts at Our Lady's Hospital, in Navan, County Meath.[175]
November
November – Tayto Park amusement park opened in County Meath.
1 November – Minister for Health and Children Mary Harney was pelted with red paint while attempting to open a mental healthcare facility in Dublin.[176][177][178]
More than 40,000 students from across the country marched upon Dáil Éireann to protest against government plans to increase student fees, the largest student protest for a generation.[181] The Department of Finance is occupied by some students who are then forcibly removed by gardaí.[182]
4 November – A review by Tallaght Hospital into the non-examination of 58,000 adult X-rays by a radiologist concluded that there were "serious delays in reporting results" and that two of the patients experienced delayed diagnosis.[186]
5 November – Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Brendan Smith reused a press release to announce a free cheese supplement for the poor, angering the public and generating international headlines.[187][188]
12 November – Minister for Health and Children Mary Harney was pelted with eggs and cheese in Nenagh.[189][190]
16 November – An unemployed father asphyxiated his two daughters, aged six and two, and killed himself by crashing his car into a tree in Ballycotton, County Cork. Two adults and two children were found stabbed to death in a house in Newcastle West, County Limerick.[191][192][193]
17 November – Pensioners gathered in Dublin to express opposition to government plans to threaten the impoverished people of Ireland with further cuts.[194]
18 November
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) arrived in Ireland, though Taoiseach Brian Cowen insisted they were not there to bail out the state.[195][196][197]
More than 1,000 students marched through Galway to protest against government plans to increase student fees.[198]
A significant amount of snowfall began and continued into December, as Ireland experienced its third major spell of snowfall in less than two years, with 9 February, and 10 January previous to it.[204][205][206][207]
1 December – More than 1,000 students marched peacefully through Cork to protest against government plans to increase student fees, while dozens of students erected a tent on the grounds of the Department of Education on Dublin's Marlborough Street and hold a "surprise conference" early morning protest.[212]
2 December – Amid continuing snowy weather O'Connell Street in Dublin was shut following an explosion from a gas leak inside Kylemore Café.[213]
State-supported Allied Irish Bank was forced by the minister for finance to cancel planned €40m staff bonuses following public fury and indignation at the prospect.[216][217][218]
16 December – Fianna Fáil's Beverley Flynn, TD for Mayo, announced she would not contest the 2011 general election.[220]
17 December – Minister for Transport, Fianna Fáil's Noel Dempsey, announced he would not contest the 2011 general election.[221]
18 December – Ireland's smallest surviving baby is born weighing just 14oz.
19 December – The lowest temperature ever recorded in Northern Ireland, -18C.
20 December
A prison officer was arrested after heroin, cocaine, cannabis, and prescription drugs were found strapped to his leg during a search in Mountjoy Prison.[222]
12 December – Ireland's Men's team claimed a gold medal in the Under-23 event at the European Cross Country Championships in Albufeira, Portugal. The Irish team of David McCarthy, Brendan O'Neill, Michael Mulhaire and David Rooney saw off the challenge of France and Spain to claim gold.[258]
Boxing
19 February – Bernard Dunne announced his retirement from the sport.[259]
Car racing
19 June – A co-driver died during the Donegal International Rally, the first time a competitor was killed in this event, and it ended.[260] A memorial service was held for him the following day.[261]
16 January – Louk Sorensen defeated Daniel King-Turner of New Zealand by 6–4, 7–6(3) to qualify for the 2010 Australian Open, the first Irishman to qualify for a main Grand Slam draw since 1985.[278]
19 January – Louk Sorensen defeated Lu Yen-hsun, of Taiwan by 6–4, 3–6, 6–2, 6–1 in the first round of the 2010 Australian Open, becoming the first Irishman to win a Grand Slam match.[279] He was defeated in the second round.
24 January – Sam Barry defeated Victor Baluda of Russia by 6–7 6–4 6–3, becoming the first Irishman to win a Junior main draw match.[280]
