| 2005 in Ireland Return to Years in Irish History |
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 Robert McCartney, who died after an attack on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday |
January: Cork became the European City of Culture. Road signs in the Republic were changed to use kilometers per hour rather than miles per hour. The former Minister for Justice Ray Burke was jailed for tax evasion. On January 30th, Robert McCartney was attacked by IRA members a Belfast bar. He died the following day. February: The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, laid the foundation stone of the new town Adamstown. Gardaí detained suspects over the Northern Bank Robbery of December 2004. |
| March: The
sisters and fiancée of Robert McCartney met US President George
Bush in the White House on St Patrick's Day. Gerry Adams of Sinn
Féin was not invited. Cian O'Connor lost his Olympic gold medal after it was revealed that his horse, Waterford Crystal, had tested positive for banned substances. April: President Mary McAleese and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II in Rome. A remembrance service also took place in Phoenix Park, Dublin. The Gaelic Athletic Association agreed to allow soccer and rugby to be played at Croke Park under certain circumstances. |
 Cian O'Connor, equastrian |
 Bus crash in Meath, in which five girls died |
May: Five schoolgirls died in a bus crash in County Meath. In the UK general election, Sinn Féin became the largest nationalist party at Westminster, while Reg Empey stepped down as leader of the UUP. June: The M50 motorway was completed, 17 years after construction began. The Irish language was granted official status as a working language in the European Union. |
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July: The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, had a private audience with the new Pope Benedict XVI in Rome.
On the 28th, the Provisional IRA announced the formal end to its armed campaign. British Prime Minister Tony Blair called this 'a step of unparalled magnitude'. Limerick woman Dolores McNamara won the biggest ever Euromillions jackpot. August: The British government set out a two year plan to scale down the British army's presence in Northern Ireland. It would also repeal counter-terrorist regulation particular to Northern Ireland. |
 Dolores McNamara |
 Rory Carroll kidnapped in Iraq |
September: The Irish population officially reached its highest level since 1861.
The IRA made a statement verifying that all arms had been put beyond use. This was confirmed by the head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, General John de Chastelain. October: Belgian businessman Dr Tiede Herrema returned to Limerick twenty years after his kidnap by the Provisional IRA The abducted Irish journalist Rory Carroll was released unharmed in Iraq. The results of the Ferns Inquiry into allegations of clerical sexual abuse in the Ferns Diocese in Wexford were published. |
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November: The Irish government released its biggest transport plan in the history of the state, Transport 21.
Abbas Boutrab became the first non-republican or loyalist to be convicted by a Diplock Court. He had downloaded information on how to blow up an airliner. Footballer George Best died. December: Irish broadcaster Terry Wogan received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II. After the Stormontgate charges were dropped, Sinn Féin member Denis Donaldson admitted to having been a British agent for two decades. A car bomb heading to Blanchardstown was intercepted by gardaí and Special Branch. The individual arrested was believed to have been connected to the Continuity IRA. |
 Martin McGuinness and Denis Donaldson |
| Notable Deaths in Ireland |
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| Name | Date of death | Age |
Details | ||||
| Patrick Denis O'Donnell | 1st January | 86 | Military historian, writer and former Comandant of the Irish Defence Forces | ||||
| Paul Darragh | 4th January | 51 | Showjumper | ||||
| Eileen Desmond | 7th January | 72 | Irish Labour Party TD, Cabinet Minister and MEP | ||||
| Ian Anderson | 11th January | 69 | Former President of the Legislative Council of the Isle of Man | ||||
| Gordon Lambert | 27th January | 85 | Art collector and former member of the Seanad | ||||
| Dan O'Herlihy | 17th February | 85 | Actor | ||||
| Michael O'Higgins | 9th March | 87 | Fine Gael TD and Senator | ||||
| Dave Allen | 10th March | 68 | Comedian | ||||
| Jack Stanley Gibson | 2nd April | (95) | Surgeon and writer | ||||
| Mattie McDonagh | 11th April | (69) | Former Gaelic footballer with Galway | ||||
| Doc Carroll | 1st May | 64 | Former showband singer | ||||
| Geoffrey Toone | 1st June | 94 | Actor | ||||
| Seán Doherty | 7th June | 60 | Fianna Fáil TD and Cabinet Minister | ||||
| Gerald Davis | 18th June | (67) | Artist | ||||
| Tom Curran | 19th June | - | Former Waterford hurler | ||||
| Frank Harte | 27th June | 72 | Singer and song collector | ||||
| James Wilson | 6th August | 82 | Composer | ||||
| George Carpenter | 14th August | 96 | Olympian athlete | ||||
| Liam Burke | 21st August | 75 | Former Fine Gael TD | ||||
| Seán Purcell | 27th August | (75) | Former Gaelic footballer with Galway | ||||
| Noel Cantwell | 8th September | 73 | Former international soccer player | ||||
| James Gogarty | 15th September | - | Former engineer and Flood Tribunal whistleblower | ||||
| Humphrey Kelleher | 21st September | 59 | Former Gaelic footballer with Cork | ||||
| Maura Murphy | 5th October | 77 | Writer | ||||
| Liam Lawlor | 22nd October | 61 | Former Fianna Fáil politician | ||||
| Jack Mahon | 23rd October | - | Former Gaelic footballer with Galway | ||||
| James McLoughlin | 25th November | 76 | Roman Catholic Bishop of Galway | ||||
| Tim Kennelly | 6th December | 51 | Gaelic footballer with Kerry | ||||
| Hugh Lambert | 26th December | 61 | Journalist and editor | ||||
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