January
Two young cousins, Louise and Veronica McAloon, drown in Hollywood Lake, Co Monaghan.
Death of the North's "Black Santa", Dr Jack Shearer, Dean of Belfast.
Dublin West TD Liam Lawlor goes to jail for a week and is fined £10,000 for failing to provide the Flood tribunal with all of his financial records.
Dr John Reid is appointed Northern Secretary after the sudden resignation of Mr Peter Mandelson.
Fine Gael's John Bruton loses the party leadership after 10 years.
February
Death of Mr John Meagher, deputy chairman and former chief executive of Independent News & Media.
Plans by President McAleese to build a lakeside home in Co Roscommon are turned down by An Bord Pleanβla.
A five-mile exclusion zone is placed around a Mid-Ulster farm on which a dead cow displays symptoms of Foot and Mouth. All marts in the State are halted due to the outbreak of the disease in Britain.
March
Mr Richard Egan is appointed US ambassador.
Mayo TD Beverley Cooper-Flynn's libel case against RT╔ fails. She is later voted out of the parliamentary party.
Relations between the Government and striking secondary teachers plunge to a new low, with the Taoiseach accusing them of abandoning students in the run-up to exams.
John Gilligan gets a 28-year term for drugs but is cleared of the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin.
St Patrick's Day is marked by self-denial as events are cancelled due to Foot and Mouth.
Mr Charles Haughey is rushed to hospital for emergency treatment on his heart.
A young Chinese man and woman are found strangled in a Dublin apartment that had been set on fire.
April
The body of William Delaney, who died in 1970 aged 13, is exhumed in Kilkenny as part of a Garda investigation into child abuse allegations at a Co Galway reform school.
The Flood tribunal creates its first barrister millionaires. The Department of the Environment confirms that fees earned by Mr Pat Hanratty SC and Mr John Gallagher SC are on the brink of exceeding £1 million each.
Death of the Very Rev Maurice Carey, one of the Church of Ireland's most senior churchmen.
The tour of the relics of St ThΘrΦse of Lisieux reaches the Pro-Cathedral in Dublin, with organisers hailing it as a "watershed" for Irish Catholicism.
May
Fine Gael admits it gave £120,000 in illegal under-the-counter cash payments to staff over a nine-year period.
Ms Celia Larkin, the Taoiseach's partner, is not in the welcoming party at a State reception for Cardinal Desmond Connell, during which he pointedly refers to the Catholic Church's reverence for marriage.
An Irish Times/MRBI poll shows the public evenly divided on whether to build a national stadium or spend the money on other sports facilities throughout the State.
The actor Jeremy Irons causes controversy when he paints his 15th-century Cork castle pink.
June
Ireland's rejection of the Nice Treaty shocks Europe. The European Commission president, Mr Romano Prodi, hurries to Dublin for talks.
Aer Lingus sacks its chief executive, Mr Michael Foley, after upholding two complaints of sexual harassment against him.
The Women On Waves "abortion boat" arrives in Dublin from the Netherlands. Death of the actress Deirdre O'Connell.
A Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Contestant, Mr Shane O'Doherty, sparks the "lunula" controversy by claiming he answered a question correctly but was told his answer was wrong.
Thieves steal two paintings from Russborough House in Co Wicklow.
The transatlantic voyage of the Jeanie Johnston replica famine ship is cancelled because the vessel is not ready.
July
Sharon Corr, of The Corrs, marries barrister Gavin Bonner.
Sunday Independent editor Mr Aengus Fanning apologises to another senior executive for physically attacking him in the newsroom.
The Supreme Court overturns a High Court ruling that Jamie Sinnott (23), an autistic man, had an entitlement to education for as long as it was beneficial, irrespective of age.
Niall Murphy and his sister Trisha, drown in Belmullet, Co Mayo.
The body of Mr Adrian Bestea, a Romanian, is discovered in a suitcase in the Royal Canal, Dublin.
Ms Debbie Fox and her sons, Trevor and Killian, are found beaten and stabbed to death at their Castledaly home.
Seamus "Shavo" Hogan is shot dead at the Transport Club in Crumlin, Dublin, by two masked men.
August
An armed gang steal thousands of pounds from women attending a "pyramid scheme" party in Blackrock, Co Dublin.
Journalist Liz Allen is awarded £70,500 for constructive dismissal from the Sunday Independent.
The IRA makes a statement on decommissioning.
Gateway closes its Dublin base with the loss of 900 jobs.
Aer Lingus chairman Bernie Cahill dies in a drowning accident. Bono's father, Bob Hewson, also dies.
Three Irishmen are arrested in Colombia for alleged terrorist activity. At end of year they were still in custody.
A two-year search for abducted Deirdre Crowley (6) ends tragically. The six-year-old is shot by her father, Christopher, who then turns the gun on himself.
September
The Chinese Premier, Mr Zhu Rongji, visits Ireland.
The terrorist attacks on America dominate the news. The Taoiseach says he would allow US forces engaged in a military response to refuel at Irish airports.
John Hume announces he will step down as SDLP leader.
The Rail Signalling Inquiry begins, looking into how a £14 million (€17.78 million) contract ended up costing £50 million (€63.49 million).
Death of Kevin Boland, the former Fianna Fail minister.
Joe Jacobs makes his notorious appearance on RTE radio's Marion Finucane Show, failing to answer questions about the State's national emergency plan.
Sunday World journalist Martin O'Hagan is shot dead by the LVF.
October
Thousands line the streets of Dublin for the State funerals of 10 IRA volunteers executed during the War of Independence.
Aer Lingus signals it will shed 2,500 permanent and 700 temporary jobs.
The body of German journalist Bettina Poeschel is discovered in dense undergrowth at Donore, Co Meath.
A driver injures 10 people in Dublin's pedestrianised Henry Street. He is an asylum seeker whose appeal against being threatened with deportation has been rejected.
The Government takes legal action against Britain to block the commissioning of the controversial MOX plant at Sellafield.
Death of the actor Eamon Kelly.
November
Cardinal Desmond Connell says Archbishop Walton Empey is not one of the Church of Ireland's "high-flyers".
Cannabis joints are mailed to every TD and senator by a campaigner.
The Irish Times announces it is seeking 250 redundancies from its 710 staff.
The GAA abolishes Rule 21.
A row over the new director of the Irish Museum of Modern Art is revived when two board members resign. It transpires that Brian Kennedy, currently director of the National Gallery of Australia, is the "mystery" candidate who had been earmarked but not appointed.
A Dublin bank customer gets a £250,000 windfall when his bank accidentally transfers more than €300,000 instead of Spanish pesetas into his account.
In the Dail, TD Tom Gildea alleges Nora Owen accepted bribes.
Illegal dumping sites begin to be discovered around the country.
December
Tanaiste Mary Harney marries businessman Mr Brian Geoghegan .
The budget has good news for dual income married couples.
Det Sgt John Eiffe is accidentally shot dead by a colleague during an operation to foil a bank robbery in Abbeyleix.
Eight stowaways are found dead in a freight container in Co Wexford.
Liam Lawlor is sent back to jail by the Supreme Court. His sentence is deferred so he can enjoy Christmas in New York.
Sister Philomena Lyons is found murdered in Ballybay, Co Monaghan. The 68-year-old nun had disappeared after going to catch a bus to Dublin.
John Dillon is elected president of the Irish Farmers' Association, succeeding Tom Parlon.
Cian O Tighearnaigh, former chief executive of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, is charged with fraud and released on bail.
Publican Charlie Chawke has a drink-driving conviction overturned. His case was that the word "forthwith" had been improperly used by a garda.