9 January – After days of heavy rainfall in the southwest, serious flooding occurred in Fermoy and Mallow with parts of Mallow under 1.3 metres of water.[2]
16 January – Wayne O'Donoghue was released from prison after serving three years of a four-year jail term for the manslaughter of Robert Holohan (aged 11) in January 2005.[3]
23 January – The brother of a Real IRA leader was one of two Irish citizens arrested in Lithuania on suspicion of buying firearms and explosives for the Real IRA.[4]
25 January – The closure of the Jacob's biscuit plant in Tallaght, County Dublin, was announced, with the loss of 220 jobs by March 2009.[5]
26 January – Martin Foley ("The Viper") was shot in Dublin possibly as part of a feud between criminal gangs. It was the fifth failed attempt on Foley's life.[6]
14 March – The Economic and Social Research Institute predicted that economic growth in Ireland for 2008 will be 1.6%, the lowest level since 1988. It was also forecast that no new jobs will be added to the Irish economy for the first time since 1991.[12]
26 March – Farmer Michael Hanrahan, 60, and his son Denis Hanrahan, 27, were found shot dead at their home in Moyvane, County Kerry.
April
2 April – Bertie Ahern announced that he would resign as Taoiseach on 6 May.
15 April – The legal case of broadcaster Pat Kenny and his neighbour, Gerard Charlrton, involving the claiming of an area of land near their home, was settled in court. It was decided that Kenny would pay an undisclosed sum of money for the land called Gorse Hill.
21 April – It was revealed that four laptop computers belonging to Bank of Ireland and containing personal information of approximately 10,000 customers were stolen between June and October 2007.
30 April – Bertie Ahern became the sixth Irish leader to address both houses of the United States Congress.
May
6 May – As part of one of his last engagements as Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern opened a new visitors centre at the site of the Battle of the Boyne in County Meath alongside Northern Ireland First Minister Ian Paisley.
7 May – Dáil Éireann elected Fianna Fáil leader Brian Cowen as Taoiseach.
10 May – Sixteen-year-old Roman Vysochan, a Ukrainian national, was found stabbed to death in Corbally on the outskirts of Limerick.
11 May – A 51-year-old man was killed and another seriously injured in a small plane crash in Kilmovee, County Mayo.
14 May – An excavation was carried out in the Slieve Bloom Mountains for the remains of Fiona Pender, who was missing since 1996, following the discovery of a cross with her name printed on it.
13 June – The result of the Lisbon Treaty vote was 53% voting "No" and 47% voting "Yes" meaning that the proposed amendment to the Irish Constitution and ratification of the Lisbon Treaty were both rejected.
28 June – A syndicate of workers at a concrete products plant in County Carlow became the winners of Ireland's biggest ever national lottery jackpot of €18,963,441.
25 September – It was announced that the Irish economy had officially entered recession in January 2008 for the first time since 1983.
30 September – The Government decided during the night to offer a €400 billion guarantee to, initially, six leading Irish banks to prevent their collapse due to the worldwide Great Recession.
14 October – Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan unveiled Budget 2009, the toughest government budget in recent years and also the most controversial. He announced that the automatic entitlement of over-70s pensioners to a medical card, entitling them to free medical care, would be withdrawn, all workers would be exposed to a 1% income level,[clarification needed] and an increase in college fees would come into effect.
21 October – Following country-wide outrage, Taoiseach Brian Cowen increased the higher income thresholds for the elderly that would allow 95% of those over 70 to retain their full medical cards.
25 October – Two adults and two teenagers from Bristol, England were killed in a plane crash in the Wicklow Mountains.[16]
November
6 November – €750 million worth of cocaine was seized off the Irish coast in Operation Seabight.
8 November – Rugby player Shane Geoghegan was shot dead outside his home in Limerick in a case of mistaken identity. The murder led to a nationwide appeal to the end of gangland killing in Ireland.
December
6 December – 2008 Irish pork crisis: All Irish pork products were recalled following an announcement that animal feed used since 1 September might contain between 80 and 200 more times dioxins than the recognised safety limit.
11 December – Irish pork was confirmed to be safe and began to return to the market.
31 December – Three teenagers in Nenagh, County Tipperary became the final Irish road traffic accident victims of 2008, a year which ended with the fewest traffic deaths since records began, according to Transport Minister Noel Dempsey.[19]
1 December – Raidió Teilifís Éireann's digital radio revolution began with the official launch of five new digital radio and broadband services which had been on trial for twenty months. They were RTÉ Choice, a sister speech station to RTÉ Radio 1; easy listening and ambient service RTÉ Chill; RTÉ Junior, which was aimed at two to ten-year-olds; the dance-based RTÉ Pulse; and RTÉ 2XM, a sister station to the rock and indie components of RTÉ 2fm.[20]
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