Saturday/Sunday
There was a resounding Yes vote on both sides of the Border in the Belfast Agreement referendums. Overall in the two referendums there was an 85.46 per cent Yes vote. In the North 71.12 per cent voted Yes with an 81.1 per cent turnout. The Republic's voters decided by an overwhelming 94.39 per cent to alter Articles 2, 3 and 29 of the Constitution to turn the territorial claim to Northern Ireland into an aspirational one. The DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, claimed that the majority of unionists voted No, while the UK Unionist leader, Mr Robert McCartney, said that a lot of the "soft Yes" voters would switch back to his party and the DUP in the elections.
The Yes vote paved the way for the election on June 25th of a new Northern Assembly.
Monday
The Irish Olympic swimming champion, Michelle de Bruin, was facing possible disciplinary action after the world swimming authority, FINA, confirmed that the second part of a random urine sample she submitted showed signs of tampering. An earlier test on the first part of the sample, provided in Kilkenny on January 10th, had shown high levels of alcohol, compatible with tampering.
FINA said the case would be submitted to its doping panel. Ms de Bruin's solicitor said, however, that the entire procedure was null and void because they had failed to test for testosterone precursor, a banned substance.
John Boorman arrived back in Dublin after winning the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival for his film The General about the Dublin criminal Martin Cahill who was shot dead in 1994 by paramilitaries. Mr Boorman has lived in Co Wicklow for more than 25 years.
Almost 60 per cent of the 1,500 TEAM Aer Lingus workforce rejected a £54.6 million buy-out of their letters of guarantee from Aer Lingus. The surrender of the letters which guaranteed employment with the airline was a necessary preliminary to the sale of the company to the Danish conglomerate, FLS Aerospace.
Tuesday
The Ulster Unionist Party refused to allow its anti-agreement MP, Mr Jeffrey Donaldson, to stand in the assembly elections, after a heated two-hour meeting in Belfast of the party's "officer team". The party leader, Mr David Trimble, was not present. The DUP's deputy leader, Mr Peter Robinson, said his party would not try to "wreck" the Assembly, although it would not accept Sinn Fein members holding ministerial positions or the release of prisoners without some decommissioning.
The Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, told the Dail that it was her view and that of Aer Lingus and TEAM management that TEAM had no future as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aer Lingus. She accepted that the letters of guarantee represented a clear guarantee of employment with the parent company but she did not think that "anybody has a job for life. . . That is the rhetoric of some years ago."
Wednesday
It was revealed in Magill magazine that the former Fianna Fail minister, Mr Ray Burke, had received a £30,000 payment in 1989 from Rennicks, a subsidiary of the Fitzwilton group. It had been assumed that the £10,000 donation Mr Burke made in 1989 to Fianna Fail headquarters had come from a separate £30,000 cash payment which Mr Burke received from Mr James Gogarty of Joseph Murphy Structural Engineering. The £10,000 to the party actually came from the Rennicks payment. Mr Burke resigned last autumn as Minister for Foreign Affairs over the JMSE payments controversy.
Fitzwilton confirmed that a cheque payable to cash was paid on June 7th, 1989, to Mr Burke, then minister for industry and commerce. Two representatives of Fitzwilton subsidiaries, Mr Paul Power, managing director of Novum, and Mr Robin Rennicks, of Rennicks Manufacturing, intended the contribution for Fianna Fail. Mr Burke refused to comment.
Stormont Castle threw open its gates for a historic peace concert given by Elton John. Some 15,000 people turned up for the event. The concert was opened by the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam.
The Government and TEAM Aer Lingus came under increasing pressure to resolve the impasse over the workforce rejection of a £54.6 million offer after FLS announced it was suspending a "due diligence" investigation of TEAM, which involved an examination of the company's books.
The chairman of the Danish company, Mr Steffen Harpoth, said the Government should have come out earlier in support of the deal to allow the sale of the company to FLS.
Thursday
It emerged that the Moriarty tribunal may be asked to investigate the files relating to the granting of exclusive MMDS television licences (TV distribution signals) by Mr Ray Burke to Princes Holdings, a joint venture company in which the Independent Newspapers group has a 50 per cent interest.
The Tanaiste, Ms Harney, said she was informed by Mr Ahern only on Tuesday that a payment of £30,000 was made by Rennicks, a subsidiary of Dr Tony O'Reilly's Fitzwilton group, to Mr Burke in 1989. He was then minister for industry and commerce. Ms Harney told the Taoiseach that the allegations, now in the public domain, should be fully investigated.
ail that he first became aware of the Rennicks donation while the party was preparing an affidavit for the Flood tribunal in March. However, he told TDs he had no recollection of being informed by the then Labour leader, Mr Dick Spring, of the contents of an anonymous note alleging that Rennicks paid £30,000 to Mr Burke. Mr Ahern said that if Mr Spring said he referred it to him "I don't have any recollection, but I accept that".
Rehearsals began in Co Wicklow for a $21 million television adaptation of George Orwell's classic Animal Farm. Shooting begins in August, and up to 100 live animals will be involved in the production.
