Saturday/Sunday
POLITICAL uncertainty gripped the North following the bomb blast at the Killyhevlin Hotel near Enniskillen on Saturday. The blast put the loyalist ceasefire under strain, but the IRA denied responsibility.
Seventeen people were injured in the blast but none seriously.
Despite the bomb, there were signs in the North of a respite from the violence of the past week.
The SDLP was accused of abstentionism by the leader of the Ulster Unionists, Mr David Trimble, when the party decided to withdraw from the elected forum in protest at last week's events, particularly the handling of the Garvaghy Road controversy.
The relief agency Goal said it had reduced its overseas staff from 107 to 43. It blamed the fall in donations and the slow payment of funds by international agencies. The Druid theatre company of Galway, now 21 years old, was given a permanent home in a former tea warehouse donated by the Thomas McDonagh group.
Monday
The Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, repeated his criticism of the British handling of the Garvaghy Road incidents. However, the British government agreed to a demand by the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, to a full meeting of the Anglo Irish Inter Governmental Conference.
Gardai began a murder hunt following the death of a father of nine shot twice as he tried to escape his attackers at a travellers' encampment in Tallaght.
Tuesday
The first session of the multi party peace talks since the upsurge in violence was held at Stormont Castle. Senator George Mitchell said that in spite of extreme difficulties progress was possible. As the streets of the North returned to normal, a political row developed over contact between Mr David Trimble and a prominent Portadown loyalist, Mr Billy Wright, at the height of the Drumcree crisis.
The editor of the Sunday Tribune, Mr Peter Murtagh, announced his resignation. Mr Murtagh had edited the newspaper for just over two years.
Meanwhile, summer arrived, with balmy weather reported all over the country. Met Eireann predicted it would last until the end of the week at least, while people in Kinvara, Galway, were predicting the good weather would last for about a month.
More that £280 million was wiped off the value of Irish stocks in a wave of selling as the market reacted negatively to a 3 per cent fall on the New York market.
Singer Dolores O'Riordan of The Cranberries accepted an undisclosed sum at the High Court in London over a Dally Star article which claimed she went on stage without her underwear.
The first local radio stations to go on air seven years ago had their contracts with the regulatory body renewed for a further seven years. Wednesday
It emerged that the vehicle used in the Killyhevlin Hotel bombing had been located by the RUC before the explosion and went missing again. It was stolen in Dublin and stopped at a Garda checkpoint. When it sped through the RUC was informed. It found the vehicle and lost track of it again.
Sinn Fein president Mr Gerry Adams met officials in Dublin to discuss the aftermath of the Drumcree crisis. Mr Adams described the continued ban on meetings between his party and Government Ministers as "inconsistent," ad ding that if either Mr Trimble or the Rev Ian Paisley requested a meeting, they would "rightly" be granted one. The policy should be reviewed, he said.
The Central Bank spent up to £15 million in an effort to halt the slide of the pound against the 5 The intervention came after the pound fell from the top of the ERM to the bottom in just one day.
Thursday
The unionist parties were put under pressure to move the Stormont talks forward and to end rows about rules and procedures. The warning from both governments came after five hours of talks in London. It was the first full meeting between the governments since violence of last week.
The chairman of Sinn Fein, Mr Mitchel McLoughlin, said the disclosure that the jeep used in the Killyhevlin Hotel bombing had been located by the RUC before the blast added further suspicion about who was responsible.
The former chairman of Bord na Mona, Mr Brendan Halligan, told an Oireachtas committee that the pay deal for managing director Dr Eddie O'Connor did breach Government guidelines.
Garda Commissioner Mr Patrick Culligan, criticised the Departments of Health and Education for opting out of their responsibilities by failing to tackle the drugs problem. It had all been left to the Department of Justice and the law enforcement agencies, he said.
Traffic in Dublin ground to a halt for more than six hours after a hoax bomb warning from the UFF. O'Connell Street and surrounding areas were cleared by gardai. A controlled explosion was carried out on a rubbish skip in North Earl Street.