Saturday/Sunday
A THREATENED strike by Aer Lingus pilots was called off four hours before a Sunday midnight deadline, following acceptance by both sides of Labour Court proposals. These recommended that Aer Lingus pay the pilots the first 5 per cent of a 17 per cent pay rise awarded by an independent tribunal from October 1st.
Loyalists picketed Catholic churches in Ballymena and Bushmills for the second week running. The Ulster Unionist Party leader, Mr David Trimble called for an end to such pickets as well as nationalist boycotts of Protestant shops in the North.
An oil spillage from an unknown source killed around 500 seabirds off the Dublin coast.
Monday
A man was shot dead and 10 tonnes of homemade explosives were uncovered in early morning raids by police in London, Sussex and Yorkshire. The police said they believed they had foiled preparations for a massive IRA bombing blitz in Britain. Five other men were arrested, one of them a British Airways engineer. The police also seized Semtex, Kalashnikov rifles, handguns and bomb making equipment.
Curfews are to be imposed on child offenders in the new Children Bill, it was revealed. The Bill will also allow the courts to make parents pay compensation for damage caused by their children.
Tuesday
Gardai searched the Co Monaghan home of one of the men arrested in London, who is believed to be a close associate of the man reputed to be the IRA's chief of staff. British police refused to comment on newspaper reports that Diarmuid O'Neill (27), who was shot dead in Monday's police raid, had been unarmed.
Thousands of farmers protesting about EU compensation payments broke through Garda lines - and laid siege to the Killarney hotel where EU agriculture ministers were discussing the BSE crisis.
A seven person syndicate claimed over £2 million in Lotto winnings, ending the mystery of who had bought a "quick pick" ticket on Achill Island. A Galway man thought he had lost the ticket in a local hostel.
The Tanaiste, Mr Spring, told the United Nations General Assembly that there must be "an unequivocal restoration" of the IRA ceasefire before Sinn Fein could enter the negotiations on Northern Ireland "which would be enhanced by their presence".
Lurgan man, Mr Colin Duffy, was cleared by the Appeal Court in Belfast of murdering a UDR sergeant in 1993. He had been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Wednesday
The Revenue Commissioners said only about £500 million of the £2 billion in unpaid taxes identified in the annual report of the Comptroller and Auditor General would be collectable.
Sinn Fein leader, Mr Gerry Adams, cancelled his planned visit to the House of Commons to talk to left wing Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Tony Benn. Mr Corbyn had planned to host a press conference for Mr Adams, who was coming to London to publicise his autobiography.
The biggest ever Lotto jackpot of £4.74 million was won by a ticket bought in Dublin. About 1.75 million adults had bought Lotto tickets since Saturday's jackpot rollover.
It was revealed that the Central Bank had sold large amounts of pounds over the previous three days in an attempt to prevent a revaluation of the EU "green pound" - and a consequent reduction in the value of EU subsidies to farmers.
Thursday
ICTU delegates voted by 253 to 50 to enter talks on a successor to the Programme for Competitiveness and Work. However, the ICTU said its members had not voted "for more of the same", but would be looking for firm commitments on tax reform for PAYE workers, greater safeguards for trade unionists in the workplace and much larger pay rises than those conceded under the PCW.
EU justice ministers, meeting in Dublin, agreed to a proposal from the Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, to extend the mandate of the Europol Drugs Unit to include the exchange and analysis of information about trafficking in human beings and the international sexual exploitation of children.
Management at a national school in Killimor, Co Galway, denied that a decision to exclude four children from a traveller family was discrimination.
Aer Lingus announced it was to sell 60 per cent of its subsidiary, Airmotive, which maintains and overhauls jet engines, to the German airline, Lufthansa.
A group of Protestant business people in Northern Ireland announced that it would be organising a boycott of traders from the Republic unless the Catholic boycott of some Protestant businesses in the North was lifted.
The Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, said he was concerned about a "trend towards aggression" in some anti drug protests in Dublin. He said he regarded threats to people who were told to leave their homes within 24 hours as "unacceptable", as was holding protests outside particular homes.