Saturday/Sunday
THE Republican paramilitary group which killed a nine year old girl in Belfast at the weekend issued "death sentences" on four, men it accused of killing their former leader, Gino Gallagher.
Members of the Gallagher faction of the INLA killed the little girl, Barbara McAlorum, on Friday night, as well as John Fennell in Bundoran three weeks ago. It claimed Fennell had confessed to taking part in the Gallagher killing.
St Patrick's Day was celebrated all over the world. In Dublin, 350,000 people turned out to watch the parade. Although the new organisers claimed it was a totally new look event, many observers were less convinced. While it was felt the likes of the street theatre group, Macnas, added a vibrant new dimension to the parade, there was still a lot of familiar fare. The organisers also pointed out that the parade was only the start of the day's celebrations. There were fun fairs and other events throughout the day, culminating in a performance by the Catalan group, Els Comediants, in Dublin city centre.
Blackrock College beat Newbridge College 37-3 in the Leinster Schools Senior rugby cup final at Lansdowne Road.
Monday
The bid by KPN/Telia to acquire a 35 per cent stake in Telecom Eireann was understood to be in the region of £200 million, less than half the figure expected by the Government.
UCD has postponed a scheme to reserve 2 per cent of places for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The plan, under which the students were to be paid a top up grant, will not be in place before 1997. It had been due to start this autumn.
A number of Irish women figured in the annual list of top female earners in Britain. Dolores O'Riordan, the lead singer with the Cranberries, was third with £4.4 million, singer Enya ranked eighth with £3.3 million and author Maeve Binchy was 13th with £2 million.
Tuesday
Quarterly figures from the Central Bank put inflation at 2 per cent for the year up to mid February, which may leave room for a cut in interest rates.
Thomas Nevin, the owner of Jack White's Pub near Brittas Bay, Co Wicklow, was murdered during a robbery. The raid on the pub follows a series of armed robberies by Dublin criminal gangs in rural areas close to the city.
A political row began over the level of bidding for 35 per cent of Telecom Eireann. The Minister for Communications, Mr Lowry has denied that KPN/Telia's bid was under £200 million, and cited confidentiality as the reason he could not disclose the size of the bid from the Dutch/Danish consortium. Tele Denmark, the other bidder, is seeking a partner.
Wednesday.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, moved to protect the beef trade with Britain, worth £200 million, following the latest information that humans could contact brain disease from eating BSE infected beef. The Minister declared that Irish beef was safe.
The trial of Brendan O'Donnell entered its 45th day, making it the longest running murder trial of a single defendant in the history of the State. O'Donnell is charged with the murder of Ms Imelda Riney, her three year old son, Liam and Father Joseph Walsh.
The report of the Commission on the Newspaper Industry, expected earlier this year, is not now expected to be ready for publication until May.
Thursday
The British Prime Minister set a date of May 30th for elections in the North.
His plans, which include a complicated list system, were attacked by all the major parties including the two main unionist parties, Sinn Fein and the SDLP when he announced them in the House of Commons. Despite the dissatisfaction, there were no immediate signs of a boycott. The Irish Government adopted a neutral stance in order to present the proposals for an election in Northern Ireland as the gateway to all party negotiations, rather than an end in themselves.
The Department of Agriculture announced that it would not prevent imports of British beef as this would be illegal under EU rules, but added that current import levels are very low. France and Belgium have both banned imports of British beef.
A man was shot and wounded when detectives foiled an attempted robbery of the home of a businessman near Swords. The door to the house was kicked in by an armed raider, who was met inside by armed gardai.
The general secretary of the ICTU, Mr Peter Cassells, warned there will be no new national pay deal unless the Government and employers agree to a new approach to industrial relations. Some Irish companies had procedures dating back to the industrial revolution, he said.
Company profits at Guinness' were reported to be up 5 per cent to £148 million.
The paedophile priest, Father Brendan Smyth, was interviewed by senior gardai who travelled to Belfast to question him about alleged offences in Dublin, Mayo and Cavan.