5 January - Education Executive announces AQE/GL transfer tests will not go ahead, then AQE announces they will hold one exam in late February, postponed for a second time.[2]
6 January – Education Minister
Peter Weir announces that
GCSE,
AS Level and
A Level exams scheduled for summer 2021 will be cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]
9 January – Lorry drivers from Northern Ireland travelling directly to France from the Irish Republic have been told they will need a recent negative COVID test in order to do so. Drivers have been using a route from Rosslare to Cherbourg to avoid UK delays caused by COVID.[4]
10 January – All of Northern Ireland's six health trusts have forecast that the number of patients in hospital with COVID could double by the third week of January.[5]
17 January – Jennifer Welsh, Chief Executive of the
Northern Health and Social Care Trust, says that hospitals are preparing for a peak in admissions from COVID during the coming week.[6]
21 January - The lockdown restrictions for Northern Ireland are extended until 5 March.[7]
22 January - Following the cancellation of transfer tests, it is reported that grammar schools in Northern Ireland will not use academic tests to admit pupils in 2021.[8]
28 January - The Northern Ireland Executive agrees that most schools in Northern Ireland will not return until at least Monday 8 March.[9]
February
1 February - Health Minister
Robin Swann confirms that as of Sunday 31 January, 246,421 COVID vaccinations had been given in Northern Ireland.
2 February –
GCSE,
AS and
A Level qualifications will be calculated by schools in 2021, it is confirmed.[10]
8 February – People from Northern Ireland crossing the border into the Irish Republic without a reasonable excuse are being sent back by
Gardai, and face a fine of €100 (£88).[11]
8 March - Pupils in Years P1 to P3 return to school. The plan is for them to return to remote learning on 22 March, but Education Minister
Peter Weir announced plans to change this to allow for them to stay in the classroom, saying the present plans do not make "enormous sense”.[13]
12 March - The UK Government agrees to deploy 100 military medical personnel to Northern Ireland to help with the accelerated rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.[14]
21 March -
2021 United Kingdom census. Figures released in 2022 show the proportion of the Northern Ireland population which is Roman Catholic (or raised Catholic) is 45.7% compared to 43.48% Protestant, the first time a Catholic majority has been recorded.[16]
2 April - Following a protest on
Sandy Row, a riot erupts and Ulster Loyalists attack the
PSNI with bottles, bricks, petrol bombs and fireworks. Eight people are arrested in total.[18]
3 April - Riots break out in Loyalist areas of
Newtonabbey, multiple vehicles are hijacked and set ablaze, and
petrol bombs thrown at police.[19][20]
4 April - Minor events continue during rioting in Newtonabbey,[21] with further disturbances taking place on the North Road area of
Carrickfergus. Projectiles including bricks, bottles and incendiary devices[22] are used against police.[23]
5 April -
PSNI officers are attacked after a call in regards to a suspicious object on Templemore Road in Derry, considered to be an “elaborate hoax”.[24]
A bonfire is built in the middle of North Road in Carrickfergus. Projectiles including petrol bombs are thrown at police.[25]
Nine police officers are injured across Newtonabbey and Carrickfergus.[26]
6 April - Rioters again gather in Derry and other areas, with vehicles being set alight in the Sperrin Park area of Nelson Drive.
7 April -
Rioters gather in Belfast at the junction of Lanark Way and the
Shankhill Road. PSNI officers are once again attacked and a bus was hijacked and set alight.[27]
A Belfast Telegraph photographer is attacked whilst covering the riots in Belfast.[28]
Crowds again gather in West Belfast, throwing bricks and projectiles at police on
Springfield Road, police respond by using
water cannons.[30] A
police dog and 19 officers are injured.[31]
Police are attacked in the
Tiger's Bay area of North Belfast. A car is also set alight.[33]
10 April - As the
Department of Health announces that the milestone of a million COVID-19 vaccinations has been reached in Northern Ireland, Health Minister
Robin Swann describes it as "a landmark".[34]
School pupils across Northern Ireland return to the classrooms following the strict COVID-19 lockdown.[34]
A burning vehicle is left on the railway line near
Bellarena, Derry. A train on the Belfast to Derry route avoids a collision.[36]
13 April - Health Minister
Robin Swann tells the Northern Ireland Assembly it could take ten years to clear Northern Ireland's backlog of hospital waiting lists unless there is significant investment from the Executive.[37]
15 April - Stormont gives the go-ahead for outdoor hospitality, gyms and non-essential retail to reopen on 30 April, and for indoor hospitality to reopen on 24 May.[38]
19 April -A female PSNI officer discovers an explosive device behind her vehicle in
Dungiven; an Army bomb squad makes the device safe. The
New IRA are blamed for the attempted attack.[39]
22 April - The
New IRA issues a statement admitting to the bomb plot in Dungiven days prior.[40]
25 April - Loyalist Willie Young is shot in the chest outside his home in the Mount Vernon Park area of Belfast. He is able to walk to the ambulance.[42]
29 April - Following a strict
COVID-19 lockdown, non-essential businesses reopen, including outdoor service at pubs and restaurants.[44]
May
1 May - In a Centenary poll run by
Kantar, it is revealed that 44% of people support a
unity referendum, but the majority of people on both sides of
the border would be opposed to paying higher tax to finance a united Ireland.[45]
3 May - Northern Ireland celebrates its centenary.[46]
5 May - The Housing Executive reports a 150% increase in the number of people seeking emergency accommodation during 2020.[47]
13 May - The Executive announces further easing of COVID-19 restrictions planned to come into force from 24 May, including allowing non essential travel to Northern Ireland from other parts of the
Common Travel Area, allowing spectators to attend sporting events, and allowing for the reopening of libraries and museums.
18 May - The number of people in Northern Ireland to receive their first COVID vaccine passes one million, meaning roughly 69% of the population have been vaccinated with their first dose.[51]
20 May - Stormont gives the go-ahead for indoor hospitality to reopen from Monday 24 May, when six people from two separate households will be permitted to meet up indoors. A traffic lights system for overseas travel will also begin on the same day.[52]
24 May – Further COVID-19 lockdown restrictions are loosened with indoor hospitality being permitted to reopen across the country, while six people from two separate households can meet up indoors again.[53]
Paul Givan assumes the roll of First minister despite D.U.P members objecting.[60]
22 June -
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson is nominated as the new leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, being the only person to put his name forward for the post.[61]
26 June - Sir Jeffrey Donaldson officially assumes the position as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party.[62]
July
1 July - BBC Northern Ireland Radio presenter
Stephen Nolan takes legal action against an online troll and is to receive a six figure payout for damages.
6 July - Deputy First Minister
Michelle O'Neill has described as reckless Prime Minister
Boris Johnson's plans to end all
COVID restrictions for England on 19 July. She states Northern Ireland would not follow the same model.
5 August - The Armagh weather observatory announces that
Armagh recorded its driest July in 21 years.[70]
6 August - Flooding in
Belfast affects a number of businesses and homes near the
city centre. The floods are described as being the "worst flooding in years."[71]
15 August - Republican youths in the
Bogside area of
Derry, build and ignite a bonfire, similar to the Loyalists fires built
a month prior. The fire is criticized due to it featuring
Israeli flags and signs featuring murdered
PSNI officers.[72]
21 August - PSNI are investigating reports of firearms being used by masked
Irish Republicans at a commemoration in Derry in remembrance of hunger striker
Michael Devine.[73]
13 September - Hundreds of young people gather for a
street party in the
Holylands area of
Belfast, in what has been described as the worst night of disturbance in a decade.[78]
21 September – Deputy First Minister
Michelle O'Neill warns Northern Ireland's health service is "about to topple over" and faces a "difficult winter" if urgent action is not taken.[80]
October
1 October - The
Parades Commission announces it has banned a centenary parade from entering the
Kilcoole area of Belfast due to it being a mixed area. The North Belfast
Orange Lodge condemned the decision.[81]
7 October – The
Northern Ireland Executive agrees to scrap the requirement for social distancing in bars and restaurants from 31 October, meaning nightclubs will be allowed to reopen from that date.[83]
13 October - The
European Union issues new proposes that would see an 80% reduction on customs checks on the
Irish Sea,
Sinn Féin and the
SDLP welcome the proposal, whereas
Unionsts reject it.[84]
17 November – Northern Ireland's ministers vote to introduce mandatory COVID passports for Northern Ireland from December, which will need to be produced for entry into pubs, restaurants and nightclubs.[91]
21 November – Justice Minister
Naomi Long describes plans drawn up in a government document to give her department responsibility for raising the compliance level of wearing face coverings to at least 80% as "highly inappropriate".[92]
26 November -
Storm Arwen swept across Northern Ireland, with a man in
Antrim being killed by a falling tree.[93]
December
4 December – The annual Lundy Parade is held in Derry, the first full event since 2019.[94]
13 December – COVID Passes become enforceable for hospitality businesses in Northern Ireland, with a £10,000 fine for any venue that does not comply.[97]
26 December - COVID-19-related restrictions are reintroduced, which includes closing
nightclubs and banning indoor seating at events, restricting socialisation to three households, and reintroducing the rule of six at bars, restaurants, and pubs that only offer table service.[99]