6 February – The coronation stone for the High Kings of Ireland on the Hill of Tara – the Lia Fáil – was vandalised when the word "Fake" was spray painted on the 5,000-year-old granite stone.[5][6]
7 February
Government ministers met with aviation and police authorities for briefing on illegal drone activity at Dublin Airport between 4–6 February which forced suspension of flying and diversions of flights to other airports.[7]
21 February – The Government agreed a more targeted cost-of-living package, along with some universal payments, with €470m to be allocated for social protection measures.[12]
28 February – Minister for EducationNorma Foley reversed a plan for Leaving Certificate candidates to sit Paper 1 of their English and Irish exams at the end of fifth year, after facing strong opposition from a number of organisations, including teacher and student representative bodies.[15]
March
8 March
The report of a 20-year survey by The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland revealed that 56% of Ireland's native plant species are in decline due to habitat loss, altered grazing pressure, and degradation (re-seeding, over-fertilising, nitrogen deposition, herbicides, soil drainage, mineral enrichment), rather than rising temperatures whose botanical effects – so far – are minor. By contrast, 80% of non-native plants introduced into Ireland since 1500 have increased.[16]
13 March – President of the United StatesJoe Biden announced that he will visit Ireland, north and south, in April for the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement (signed on 10 April 1998).[18] It was reported two weeks later that Biden will arrive in Belfast on 11 April, then he will be based in Dublin from 12–15 April from where he will make trips to other parts of the country. Former US president Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary will visit Belfast the following week.[19]
9 April – An emergency was declared and flights into Dublin Airport were suspended briefly when the nose landing gear of a Ryanair flight from Liverpool to Dublin experienced a problem during landing. Four other arriving flights were diverted to Shannon Airport.[26]
22 April – It was announced that an investigator with the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) had attended a party celebrating the acquittal of Gerry Hutch the previous Monday, and that he was an associate of a relation of Hutch. The officer resigned when it became known, and GSOC intitiated an investigation.[33]
23 April – An incorporeal Cabinet meeting agreed to send an Emergency Consular Assistance Team to Sudan, via Djibouti – some of them leaving on the night – on a mission to evacuate 150 Irish people and their families from the armed conflict there. The team consisted of officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and members of the Defence Forces, including Army Ranger Wing personnel.[34]
24 April – Fifty Irish citizens were evacuated on French and Spanish aircraft from Khartoum in Sudan to safety in Djibouti. It was announced that Ireland had purchased two Airbus C295 maritime patrol aircraft capable of future airlift missions, while Airbus will supply an additional military transport aircraft to Ireland in 2025.[35]
25 April
Seventy-two Irish citizens and their families were rescued with the help of France and Spain from violence in Sudan to safety in Djibouti and Jordan.[36]
26 April – Sixteen more Irish citizens and their family members were rescued since the day before via Djibouti, Jordan, and Cyprus, from the fighting which broke out on 15 April in Sudan. More than 100 Irish people remained in the country.[38]
30 April – After evacuating 209 Irish people and their families in the past week, the Emergency Civil Assistance Team was withdrawn from Sudan.[39]
EirGrid announced plans for four major wind farm projects, three in the Irish Sea off the coasts of Counties Dublin and Wicklow and one off the Atlantic coast, in Connemara. The project is part of the largest ever renewable energy project in Ireland, intended to power six million homes by 2030.[42]
The High Court ruled that the diseased leg of an elderly man with dementia should not be amputated against his wishes in an attempt to save his life.[43]
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar expressed his dismay for a 14-year-old boy who was subjected to an unprovoked homophobic assault by a group of teenage boys in Navan and humiliated by having the video posted online.[45]
A 17-year-old boy who was attacked by a group of people using golf clubs in Bluebell, Dublin remained in a critical condition in hospital and in a coma.[46]
The number of homeless people in Ireland exceeded 12,000 for the first time.[48]
The mother of an 18-year-old who killed himself in 2021 sued anti-vaccine campaigner Gemma O'Doherty for misrepresenting and sensationalising his death in the freesheet, The Irish Light, last year to support conspiracy theory about the COVID-19 vaccine.[49]
30 May – Ireland's 2022 census figures from the CSO show an older population, increased diversity, decreased religiosity, and a population surpassing five million for the first time since the great famine.[50]
The postal service An Post moved from its historic headquarters in the General Post Office building on O'Connell Street in Dublin to new premises at North Wall Quay.[52]
RTÉ admitted that it paid its top presenter Ryan Tubridy €345,000 more than publicly declared between 2017 and 2022, in what the chair of its board said was a "serious breach of trust with the public".[53]
24 June – All 30 remaining Argos retail stores in Ireland closed permanently.[54]
2 July – Tributes were paid to two Leaving Cert classmates who died while holidaying with friends on the Greek island of Ios.[56]
3 July – Seven GAA fans were arrested and 15 others were ejected after a fight broke out on Hill 16 at Croke Park on 1 July, during the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final match between Armagh and Monaghan.[57]
10 July – New RTÉ Director-General Kevin Bakhurst stood down the RTÉ Board, and appointed a new temporary leadership team.[58]
20 July – Minister for Justice Helen McEntee condemned an unprovoked attack on a US tourist who suffered serious eye and head injuries after being punched, kicked and knocked to the ground by a group of youths in Dublin city centre.[61]
25 July – An All Ireland Rail Review was published to reopen all closed railway lines on the island of Ireland.[62]
11 August – RTÉ Director-General Kevin Bakhurst confirmed that legal firm McCann Fitzgerald had begun a review into voluntary redundancy schemes at the broadcaster in 2017 and 2021.[64]
12 August – Three tourists from the UK were hospitalised after an assault in Temple Bar, with calls for public order gardaí to patrol every night following a number of high-profile assaults in the capital.[65]
15 August – Bank of Ireland suffered a major technology breakdown which allowed customers who had no money in their accounts to get access to funds, prompting queues at some ATMs around the country, with Gardaí controversially deployed in some areas.[66][67]
18–22 August – The Rose of Tralee International Festival was held, and won by New York Rose Roisin Wiley, giving New York its first victory in the competition since 2007, and the first US winner since 2016.
25 August
Over 62,000 students received their Leaving Certificate results, which were artificially boosted by an average of almost 8%.[68]
Four young people (a man in his early 20s and three women in their teens) died after a car carrying teenagers celebrating their Leaving Certificate results spun out of control and overturned in Clonmel, County Tipperary.[69]
28 August – A technical problem with the UK's air traffic service left thousands of airline passengers stranded in Ireland and around Europe causing delays and cancellations.[70]
30 August – The Electoral Commission submitted its Constituency Review Report 2023 to the Oireachtas. It recommended that the number of Teachtaí Dála be increased from 160 to 174, and that the number of Dáil constituencies be increased from 39 to 43. The increases take account of a population rise of 8% since 2016.[71][72]
September
7 September – During an appearance on RTÉ News at One, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he believes Ireland is "on the path to unification" and that there will be a United Ireland in his lifetime.[73]
26 September – Officials recovered 2,253kg of cocaine after boarding MV Matthew, a Panamanian-registered ship, off the coast of Ireland. The operation was described by Gardaí as the largest drugs seizure in Ireland's history.[74]
27 September – Using Dáil privilege, Mary Lou McDonald revealed details of a letter confirming a meeting between clinicians and a representative from Children's Health Ireland, concerning experimental spinal surgeries on children at Temple Street Hospital. Nineteen children had poor surgical outcomes following surgery at Temple Street, and one of children later died. Whether parental consent had been obtained is in dispute.[75]
28 September – TikTok announced that it had shut down a misinformation network of 72 accounts targeting Ireland, that had over 94,000 followers, saying "the operators of the accounts posted divisive views in a bid to intensify social conflict."[76]
29 September
Gardaí launched a murder investigation after a woman in her 40s died following a violent attack at her home in County Offaly. A 16-year-old boy, known to the victim, was arrested at the scene. The attack was filmed and posted on social media.[77]
Homelessness figures were released, showing that there were 12,691 people homeless in Ireland in August – a 17% increase year-on-year – including a record 3,895 homeless children.[78]
October
8 October – Tánaiste Micheál Martin said that the Department of Foreign Affairs had been in touch with the family of Kim Damti (22), an Irish-Israeli woman who was unaccounted for following the previous day's series of attacks launched by Hamas on Israel.[79] On 11 October, Damti was confirmed dead.[80]
23 October – Yousef Palani was sentenced to two life sentences plus 20 years for the murder of two men and the stabbing of a third in Sligo, all of who he had sought out on a pretence of dating.[82]
27 October – Latest figures showed that homelessness in Ireland hit new records: 8,923 adults and 3,904 children accessed emergency accommodation in September 2023, bringing the total to 12,827 people.[84]
12 November – Met Éireann issued a Status Red wind warning for 14 counties, ahead of Storm Debi warning of a "potential danger to life".[86]
15 November – The Dáil voted 85–55 to reject a motion by the Social Democrats party to expel the Israeli Ambassador, Dana Erlich. A Sinn Féin party motion to refer Israel to the International Criminal Court because of its actions in Gaza was also defeated, 77–58. Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns argued during the debate that "Israel is killing with impunity. According to the World Health Organisation, Gaza is now a graveyard for children." She also stated, "Words of condemnation are not enough. We need action. There must be consequences for the crimes perpetrated by Israel on a captive civilian population in Gaza." Deputy James Browne (Fianna Fáil party) claimed in the debate that the Social Democrats' motion "seeks to push Ireland to the margins of international opinion". Meanwhile, a large crowd outside Leinster House called for the ambassador's expulsion.[87]
18 November – Gardaí began a murder investigation after a 23-year-old man was shot dead in a gangland shooting in Finglas, Dublin.[89]
21 November – The Minister for Justice Helen McEntee sought approval from the Cabinet for the repeal of antique censorship laws. The initiative was a response to far-reaching developments in community values since Censorship of Publications legislation was recommended by the Committee on Evil Literature, established in 1926. Modern laws will continue to allow control of indecent or obscene publications, including child abuse material, while permitting information on contraception, abortion and divorce.[90]
24 November – Latest figures showed that homelessness hit new records: 9,188 adults and 3,991 children accessed emergency accommodation in October 2023, bringing the total to 13,179 people.[93]
25 November – The nine-year-old Irish-Israeli girl, Emily Hand, was released from captivity by Hamas and reunited with her father after being held hostage in Palestine for 50 days. Taoiseach Varadkar and Tánaiste Martin welcomed the news.[94]
6 December – A no confidence motion in Minister for Justice Helen McEntee was tabled in the Dáil by Sinn Féin and countered with a government motion expressing confidence in the minister. The government's confidence motion won, with 83 TDs voting that they had confidence in the minister and 63 TDs voting that they did not.[97]
14 December – Twelve people, including eight Transition Year students, were injured in a serious crash between a school bus and a truck in Kilkenny.[100]
17 December – Gardaí began investigating a "criminal damage incident" after a fire broke out at a disused hotel in Rosscahill, Oughterard that was due to accommodate asylum seekers.[102]
22 December – Circuit Court judge Gerard O'Brien was convicted of the sexual assault of six young men when he was a secondary school teacher during the 1990s. O'Brien is also a former Fianna Fáil party councillor and former State solicitor. He was born with no arms and just one leg as a result of the drug thalidomide.[104]
24 December
A man in his 20s died and a second man was seriously injured in a gangland gun attack at a restaurant in Blanchardstown, Dublin.[105]
Two men appeared in court in Limerick in connection with a seizure of 300kg of cocaine worth an estimated €21 million.[106]
28 December – Met Éireann recorded the warmest year on record, with the overall average temperature for Ireland rising above 11°C (51.8°F) for the first time.[107]
21 November – Ireland 1–1 New Zealand.[109] The Republic of Ireland team manager, Stephen Kenny, was fired from his position, after a three-year tenure, by the Football Association of Ireland the day after the match against New Zealand. His record as manager was 11 wins, 12 draws, and 17 defeats in 40 matches.[110]
16 June – Greece 2–1 Ireland. During the match in Athens, Greek supporters were asked repeatedly over the public address system to stop shining laser beams at the Irish footballers.[112]
12 April – The UK–Ireland bid to host the Euro 2028 football tournament was submitted to UEFA, with the Aviva Stadium proposed in Dublin (instead of Croke Park), alongside a redeveloped Casement Park in Belfast.[119]
4 October – Turkey withdrew its bid to host Euro 2028 leaving the only remaining bid unopposed – the joint UK–Ireland one.[120]
10 October – UEFA officially approved the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales as Euro 2028 co-hosts.[121]
14 July – A friendly pre-World Cup warmup match against Colombia in Brisbane was abandoned after 20 minutes following harsh incidents by the South Americans against Denise O'Sullivan and Ruesha Littlejohn which earned the offenders yellow cards. O'Sullivan went to hospital with an injury inflicted by Colombian Daniela Caracas who said after the match that the Irish players "are little girls" ("Son unas nenas"), and "let them eat shit" ("que coman mierda").[127]
30 July – Dublin won their 31st All-Ireland football title after a 1–15 to 1–13 win against defending champions Kerry in the All-Ireland SFC final.[138]