Saturday/Sunday
A prominent member of Sinn Fein Mr Larry O'Toole, was shot during his granddaughter's First Communion Mass in Dublin. His son, Lar, was also shot when he chased the gunman out of the church in Ballymun. Both men were treated in hospital. Mr O'Toole senior said he had met the gunman a month previously and told him his activities in a Ballymun flat were "unacceptable".
Three teenage boys were drowned off a beach at Strandhill in Co Sligo. Bobby Taylor (16), Michael Higgins (17) and Tommy Coyle (18) had been wading in the water when they got into difficulty. A fourth boy, Lawrence Cooke (18), was rescued and taken to hospital. The beach had been declared unsafe for swimming by the Irish Water Safety Association.
A crowd of 39,000 turned out at Lansdowne Road to bid farewell to Irish soccer's brightest star, Paul McGrath, who played for the last nine minutes of his testimonial match between a Republic of Ireland XI and a Jack Charlton-managed international side.
Monday
Twenty-two non-nationals were detained in Wexford and Waterford after entering the State from France. Two groups of people, most Romanians, were discovered hiding in freight trailers which had arrived at Rosslare port on a ferry from Cherbourg.
An Irish Times/MRBI opinion poll showed Fianna Fail was winning the support of 63 per cent of the electorate, surpassing its record-breaking performance of 57 per cent in the immediate aftermath of the Belfast Agreement.
Tuesday
UUP and SDLP leaders shared a platform for the first time in the North's referendum campaign. Mr David Trimble and Mr John Hume met on stage during a U2 concert for 2,000 young people in Belfast's Waterfront Concert Hall.
The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, said the fight to save intra-EU duty-free sales would go on after his fellow EU ministers rejected an attempt to have the issue reopened.
The US multinational, Procter & Gamble, was found guilty at Nenagh District Court of polluting the Co Tipperary town's water supply in August 1996. Judge John O'Neill fined the company £1,500.
The Irish Farmers' Association called on the Tanaiste to investigate the affairs of the Co Westmeath-based European Forestry Growers. It asked Ms Harney to appoint an inspector to look into the company, which grew trees for the Christmas market. The company said the collapse of the UK Christmas tree market last year and recent "adverse publicity" had left it with no option but to go into liquidation.
The former president of Kings Hospital swimming club, Mr Michael McCann, withdrew his High Court application for an order which would have delayed completion of the Murphy report on sexual abuse in swimming.
Wednesday
The High Court rejected an attempt to halt the referendum on the Belfast Agreement. Mr Justice Kelly refused Mr Denis Riordan's application for an injunction preventing the referendum from proceeding. Mr Riordan, from Redgate, Co Limerick, had argued the procedure used to amend Articles 2 and 3 was in breach of the Constitution.
A rapid fall in telephone prices was predicted following the Government's decision to scrap Telecom Eireann's monopoly on voice telephony a year ahead of schedule.
Aer Lingus suffered a blow with the news that its chief executive, Mr Gary McGann (47), was leaving to become chief financial officer of the Jefferson Smurfit Group.
A survey found as many as 20 per cent of gardai suffer from severe work-related stress and, both individually and as a force, the Garda Siochana appeared unable to deal with the problem.
Thursday
Support for the Belfast Agreement among the unionist community in the North recovered after a sharp fall recorded last week, according to the latest Irish Times/ MRBI opinion poll. Among those surveyed in the North, 60 per cent said they would vote Yes and 25 per cent No, with 15 per cent undecided. Unionist support increased from 35 to 40 per cent, with 43 per cent against.
The B portion of the controversial urine sample submitted by Michelle de Bruin to doping control officers earlier this year was opened and examined in Barcelona at the swimmer's request. Her solicitor, Mr Peter Lennon, said as a result of the test de Bruin could be charged only with physical manipulation of the sample, and not the use of any banned substance.
A detached five-bedroom house on half an acre of garden in Dartry, Dublin, was sold for £2.2 million at auction, the second-highest price paid at a house auction in the capital.
It emerged that a special unit of 35 people is operating in the Chief State Solicitor's Office to deal exclusively with Army deafness claims. All but two of these were employed specially to handle the claims.
