What had Ireland celebrating in 2018?
As with every year, 2018 has brought with it plenty of causes for celebration but as many causes for sorrow along with it. We take a look back at the year in review.
Highlights
Ireland votes to remove its constitutional ban on abortion
Dublin Castle after the Yes win. Image: RollingNews.ie
On May 25, 2018, Ireland voted vastly in favor of “Yes,” deciding as a nation to repeal the 8th amendment and change Ireland's highly restrictive abortion laws.
Ireland beats England on their own grounds on St Patrick’s Day
Ireland has won the Grand Slam on Saint Patrick's Day, defeating England in their final game of the Six Nations! Read more of the ecstatic Irish reaction to the result here: http://bit.ly/2FJOp69 ☘
Publiée par IrishCentral.com sur Samedi 17 mars 2018
Ireland won the Grand Slam on Saint Patrick's Day, defeating England in their final game of the Six Nations.
England suffered a 15-24 loss to Ireland, who had already won the Six Nations title. The win, however, meant we took home our third Grand Slam in the history of the competition, beating all the other competing countries.
Ireland experiences the summer heatwave of a lifetime
July 12 in Ireland, 2018.
It was a hot one and we struggled with the record temperatures but that isn’t to say we wouldn’t like to see them return in 2019.
The Irish Consulate General and the Global Irish walk in the New York Pride parade for the first time
25 years to the day that homosexuality was decriminalized in Ireland, the Global Irish are celebrating NYC Pride
Publiée par IrishCentral.com sur Dimanche 24 juin 2018
Twenty-five years to the day since homosexuality was decriminalized in Ireland, the Irish Consulate General of New York joined with the city’s Irish to march proudly in New York Pride.
Lows
Irish fail to secure E3 visas
Tom Cotton. Image: Mark Wilson/Getty
Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas was the sole vote standing between Ireland and as many as 5,000 annual visas a year to the US.
Rape trial involving Irish sports star
Paddy Jackson speaking after being found not guilty of rape. Image: RollingNews.ie
In March 2018, the #IBelieveHer movement sparked in Ireland as a result of a rape trial involving Irish international rugby players Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding. As the year ended, a further international Irish sports star was alleged to have raped a young woman in Dublin.
Irish adoption agency records reveal illegal adoptions to the US
The Chief Executive of children’s charity Barnardo's this year claimed that as many as 15,000 children could have been illegally adopted in Ireland.
The claim came after the Irish Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Katherine Zappone revealed that the Irish child and family agency Tusla has confirmed 126 cases of incorrectly registered births.
These 126 people were contacted by social workers from Tusla to inform them that their adoptive parents were wrongly and illegally registered on their birth certificate as their birth parents.
Tusla revealed that as many as 79 people in these cases may be "entirely unaware of the circumstances of their birth."
The 126 established cases were registered by St Patrick’s Guild adoption society between 1946 and 1969. The youngest person affected is 49 and the oldest is 72.
Ireland loses Dolores O’Riordan
Dolores O'Riordan. Image: RollingNews,com.
Dolores O’Riordan, the lead singer of popular Irish band The Cranberries, died suddenly in London on January 15, aged 46.
O'Riordan's death sent shock waves around the world as the first death of a major cultural figure in 2018. Ireland, in particular, mourned the loss of one of its most prized singers and performers. O'Riordan had catapulted from Co. Limerick to international mega-stardom in the 1990s.
What was your highest high and lowest low of the year for the Irish? Let us know in the comments section, below.
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