The Nineties

We started the 1990’s chanting Olé Olé Olé as the Irish soccer team took on the world at USA 90, and cheering as Nelson Mandela was freed from a South African prison.

West and East Germany were reunified in 1990, while the Soviet Union crumbled in 1991. That year Operation Desert Storm marked the beginning of the Gulf War. Princess Diana died in a Paris car crash in 1997, the same year saw the passing of Mother Teresa in Calcutta.

Dolly the sheep made headlines as the first cloned mammal, and also creating waves were the Spice Girls and Sex and the City, which debuted in 1998, while in 1997, the Titanic became the biggest grossing movie of all time.

It was also the decade of the internet and the introduction of mobile telephones, CD burning, PlayStation and DVD’s. Closer to home, the historic Good Friday Agreement was signed in April, declaring a joint commitment to peace, and Mary Robinson became the seventh President of Ireland.

The Birmingham six were released in 1991, and in 1992, Bishop Eamon Casey of Galway resigned following the revelation that he had fathered a child.

Former Taoisigh, Charles Haughey and Garret Fitzgerald announced their retirement from politics in 1992.

Niamh Kavanagh won the Eurovison Song Contest, which was held in Millstreet in 1993 with ‘In Your Eyes’.

Bertie Ahern was elected leader of Fianna Fáil in 1994.

In June 1996 Ireland was rocked by the violent deaths of Garda Jerry McCabe and journalist Veronica Guerin. Mary McAleese was elected President of Ireland in 1997, the same year Tony Blair took power in the UK. President Bill Clinton visited Ballybunion in 1998, and returned to the US to fight for his political life following the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Kerry won only one Senior Football Championship in the 1990’s, beating Mayo 0-13 to 1-7 in 1997.