Saturday/Sunday
THE Northern peace process was plunged into a new crisis as a bomb injured a leading republican, Mr Eddie Copeland, in north Belfast.
He received severe leg injuries when a bomb detonated under his car as he started the vehicle outside his mother's house at Ladbrook Drive in the mainly Catholic Ardoyne area.
Although no organisation claimed responsibility for the attack, security and loyalist sources identified the Ulster Volunteer Force as the group most likely to have carried it out.
It was revealed that secret Customs documents on an operation which led to the seizure of 13 tonnes of cannabis at Urlingford, Co Kilkenny, a year ago had been stolen and may be in criminal or IRA hands.
The Minister of State for Justice, Mr Austin Currie, announced that the Government was to appoint an ombudsman for children. In addition, each of the eight regional health boards was to appoint an official to co ordinate efforts to protect children.
As several Fine Gael TDs openly criticised the former Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, it emerged that the trustees of the Fine Gael party will remove Mr Michael Lowry as their chairman at their next meeting in January.
Monday
There were heightened fears of renewed violence in the North - and possibly the two islands - amid gloomy political forecasts. The political representatives of the loyalist paramilitaries refused to condemn the bombing which injured Mr Copeland.
The Ulster Unionist Party leader, Mr David Trimble, signalled that with local and Westminster - elect ions next year, it was unlikely that there could be any movement in the talks process until Then.
The SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, accused the unionist parties of being afraid to deal with Sinn Fein against the background of an IRA ceasefire, which he insisted was still possible if Sinn Fein was allowed into talks.
Gardai began a full scale murder investigation after the body of a French woman was found on a remote roadway in west Cork. Ms Sophie Toscan Du Plantier (38), had come to Ireland to spend Christmas in her holiday home in Dunmanus West, about three miles from Schull.
As the holiday season gathered momentum, the Christmas rush to return home pushed the passenger figures through Dublin Airport to over 9 million for the year. About 360 prisoners, including 20 republican inmates, were granted varying periods of temporary release for Christmas.
Tuesday
The President, Mrs Robinson, in her annual Christmas message, reaffirmed her hopes for a lasting peace in the North and for peace and reconciliation to help the victims of violence throughout the world. "Christmas is a time when people reach out to others but it can also be a lonely time for many," she said.
Catholic graves in Redburn Cemetery, Holywood, Co Down, were vandalised. One headstone was knocked over and 18 others were daubed with slogans in what the RUC said was an isolated incident. None of the graves in the Protestant section of the cemetery was damaged.
Wednesday
As the State came to its traditional Christmas Day standstill, a few hardy souls braved the elements for their annual swim at the Forty Foot, Sandycove, Co Dublin.
In his Christmas homily, the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Desmond Connell, warned that the season was turning into a celebration of "producer consumer culture". Children might turn to drugs and even suicide to escape a society that regards them as products, he said, adding that little by little, the "language of the market" was affecting our view of society.
The Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, the Rev Walter Empey, said society had become increasingly dehumanised and dehumanising, with more and more people "left out" in the "all consuming, consumer driven" environment in which we live.
Thursday
The results of the next general election are open to a legal challenge unless the Constituency Boundary Commission redraws the constituency borders on the basis of the latest census figures, it emerged.
One of the State's best known farmers, based in Munster, is expected to be charged with possessing illegal animal growth promoting drugs, The Irish Times reported. The haul was discovered in the attic of his home recently.
Figures revealed that more than 12,000 extra jobs have been created by the IDA and Forbairt during 1996, bringing the total work force involved in manufacturing and internationally traded services to 225,000.
As the holiday season continued, Danoli won the Denny Gold Medal Chase at Leopardstown. Two members of the Cabinet - the Minister for Finance, Mr Quinn, and the Minister for Tourism and Trade, Mr Kenny - were among the attendance for the annual Wrenboy extravaganza in Sandymount, Dublin.
