31 August – The remains of
Belfast mother
Jean McConville were found 31 years after she was abducted and murdered by the
Provisional IRA, who accused her of being a British Army agent.
15 September – For the first time, the
All-Ireland Football Final was contested by two teams from the same province.
Tyrone were victorious over
Armagh in the first All-
Ulster Final.
27 November – The people of Northern Ireland went to the polls. The
Democratic Unionist Party and
Sinn Féin made massive gains at the expense of more moderate unionist and nationalist parties.
Arts and literature
May –
Claire Kilroy's debut novel All Summer was published.
The
League of Ireland moved from a predominantly winter season to a Scandinavian-style summer season.
Bohemians won the transitional 2002/03 season and
Shelbourne won the 2003 championship.