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Friday 8 December 2023 Dublin: 10°C

# 1985

All time
Aran sweaters, Avoca rugs and Waterford Crystal Statue of Liberty: Gifts Taoiseach gave Ronald Reagan
Reagan said the Waterford Crystal Statue of Liberty would be displayed permanently in the Statue of Liberty Museum.
4
8.3k
Dec 31st 2016, 7:00 PM
1986: The levels of radioactive material in Irish water, milk and vegetables following Chernobyl
Arrangements were made to impound any produce which showed unacceptable levels of contamination.
20
14.6k
Dec 30th 2016, 6:00 PM
The Greens' new senator on her activist past and the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior
Former surf champion Grace O’Sullivan has had a pretty unique career to date.
34
14.2k
May 14th 2016, 8:00 AM
How a notorious Nazi war criminal was banned from his picturesque Waterford hideaway
Rumours about looted art in the Kilmacthomas estate persisted for years.
46
45.1k
Jan 2nd 2016, 5:00 PM
The government was very concerned with bike tyres in 1985
Important business…
16
20.5k
Jan 2nd 2016, 8:30 AM
Margaret Thatcher wanted to crush Loyalist strikers just like she did the miners
The UK Prime Minister was determined not to let them take down the Anglo-Irish Agreement.
24
14.3k
Jan 2nd 2016, 7:15 AM
Ireland was terrified that exercise could be the end of us all in the early 1980s...
Aerobics in particular. And not just because of the 80s legwarmers.
28
54.0k
Jan 1st 2016, 10:00 PM
Does St Patrick deserve his own flag? An enterprising Kerryman thought he did
The government wouldn’t support the idea.
55
12.8k
Jan 1st 2016, 7:30 PM
Glenroe, Dallas and Today Tonight - The top 10 programmes Ireland was watching in 1985
Some things never change with The Late Late Show coming out on top.
0
1.5k
Jan 1st 2016, 6:00 PM
An English car enthusiast made a play for Eamon de Valera's Rolls Royce in 1985
Ten years after his death Ireland still wasn’t at all sure what was to be done with Dev’s classic car.
31
20.5k
Jan 1st 2016, 3:00 PM
Dublin planning officer: More pubs will reduce drink driving as people wouldn't have as far to travel
The planning officer for Dublin city and country wanted the one mile restriction between pubs abolished in favour of half mile limits.
0
913
Jan 1st 2016, 3:00 PM
The great Donegal postal voting scam of 1985
An enormous scam to rig postal voting in the north-western county took place. Fortunately, the scammers weren’t all that subtle…
20
18.2k
Jan 1st 2016, 7:30 AM
This letter is most blatant Big Tobacco threat to a Taoiseach you're likely to see
Carroll Industries threatened to stop investing in businesses if new laws come in
38
16.5k
Jan 1st 2016, 7:00 AM
The man who let the Taoiseach know exactly what he thought about Jack the Ripper being Irish
Talk about tarring us all with the same brush.
13
15.6k
Jan 1st 2016, 6:10 AM
That time an Irish minister got the UK's Northern Secretary so hammered he had to be walked around a park
Douglas Hurd struggled to keep up with our own Peter Barry it seems.
11
38.6k
Dec 31st 2015, 9:30 PM
Garret FitzGerald really, really did not like Sinn Féin in 1985
The then Taoiseach even reached out to his nemesis Charles Haughey in an attempt to stymie Gerry Adams’ party.
115
15.8k
Dec 31st 2015, 8:15 PM
Irish prisons ran out of overtime cash in 1984 - so they started letting prisoners go early
The process was known as ‘shedding’.
8
10.0k
Dec 31st 2015, 6:00 PM
State Papers 1985: Garret Fitzgerald's government wasn't too keen on helping Stardust victims
An official wanted a redress scheme kept well away from the Taoiseach’s department.
28
15.2k
Dec 31st 2015, 8:30 AM
30 years ago, Dublin was a crime-riddled joyrider's paradise
The damage being done with stolen cars in particular had the population terrified.
37
22.7k
Dec 31st 2015, 7:15 AM
Governor warned of potential 'bloodbath' among IRA prisoners if rubber bullets were removed
The government wanted to stop using them as part of efforts to rid them from Northern Ireland.
1
12.7k
Dec 31st 2015, 6:10 AM
'Say the daily rosary': This is the kind of fan mail you get when you're Taoiseach
Garret Fitzgerald got quite a bit when he signed the Anglo-Irish agreement.
11
14.3k
Dec 30th 2015, 10:00 PM
Irish people really didn't like paying for their TV licence 30 years ago
The government needed to make savings in 1985, and RTE was very much in the firing line.
65
15.4k
Dec 30th 2015, 6:30 PM
The government wanted to launch a phone-tapping bill in 1985...
And they were very worried about the legal ramifications of it.
23
8.3k
Dec 30th 2015, 11:30 AM
David Cameron adviser apologises over 'offensive' 1985 memo about black rioters
The memo was sent to the then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher back in 1985.
49
13.8k
Dec 30th 2015, 10:08 AM
An Archbishop, a Taoiseach and an angry face-off over IRA violence and 'genocide'
Garret Fitzgerald said the New York meeting was the most tense he has as Taoiseach outside Ireland.
138
23.7k
Dec 30th 2015, 9:00 AM
30 years ago Dunnes Stores was involved in ANOTHER workers' dispute... one that shook the world
The protest of Dunnes workers against South Africa’s apartheid regime was one of the most compelling stories of 1985.
13
15.2k
Dec 30th 2015, 7:30 AM
When Maggie dropped some epic shade on Garret FitzGerald...
Mrs Thatcher was not a fan of Ministers for Foreign Affairs.
29
9.7k
Dec 30th 2015, 6:30 AM
Pornography being shown in pubs had the government in a fluster 30 years ago
The government of the time was not one bit happy at the thought of sex shops coming to these shores either.
25
25.6k
Dec 30th 2015, 6:05 AM
Womanhood on trial: The letters received by the Taoiseach during the Kerry Babies saga
Documents released under the 30-year rule show the public interest in the tragedies.
30
24.3k
Dec 30th 2015, 6:05 AM
The Goonies is 30 - here's what became of the cast of an 80s classic
One of the greatest kids movies of all time is three decades old. Time flies.
48
48.1k
Oct 10th 2015, 5:00 PM
Man who 'assassinated a garda in cold blood' refused temporary release
Michael McHugh was initially sentenced to death but is now serving a 40-year prison term.
43
23.0k
Sep 16th 2015, 7:30 PM
Ban lifted on Dire Straits song
Money for Nothing was banned from broadcast in Canada following complaints about a lyric that a listener found offensive.
21
1.3k
Sep 2nd 2011, 2:51 PM