The year in review

This year, Charles Haughey sells his Kinsealey estate for €35m to pay off outstanding tax bills.

Mr Haughey, then 77 and whose health had been poor for most of the year, had lived in Abbeyville House, Kinsealy, Co Dublin, for more than 30 years. The estate, which was considered one of the prime pieces of real estate in Dublin, was sold to property company Manor Park Homes in August for a reported €35m.

In world news, and of additional interest due to the current conflict in Libya, sanctions are lifted on Libya after the country officially accepts responsibility for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing in a letter handed to the UN Security Council. It came two days after lawyers for Libya and for the families of the Lockerbie victims agreed to a $2.7bn compensation fund.

The bombing killed 259 people aboard the plane and 11 others hit by the debris that fell down on Lockerbie, Scotland.

The United States and Britain also deliver letters to the president of the security council this year, declaring that Libya has met the conditions required to lift UN sanctions.

In July, Irish cleric Neil Horan causes a storm when he runs onto the track during the British Grand Prix.

World news dominates the stage in December with the capture of Iraq’s dictator leader Saddam Hussein. He had ruled Iraq for 23 years until April, and since then was a fugitive with a €20m bounty on his head. He was later put on trial and executed.

In other news this year, Rosanna Davison is crowned Ireland’s first ever Miss World and the first competitive events of the Special Olympics get underway in June.