1979 in Northern Ireland

• Secretary of State – Roy Mason (until 5 May), Humphrey Atkins (from 5 May)

• 5 January – Two members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) are killed in Ardoyne, Belfast, when the car bomb they are transporting explodes prematurely.{{Cite web|title=A Chronology of the Conflict – 1979|work=Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN)|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch79.htm|accessdate=29 January 2010}}
• 4 February – A former prison officer and his wife are shot dead at their home in Oldpark Road, Belfast, by the IRA.
• 20 February – Eleven Loyalists, known as the Shankill Butchers, are sentenced to life imprisonment for 112 offences, including nineteen sectarian murders.[http://www.larkspirit.com/history/chronology.html Larkspirit Irish History] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090423022915/http://larkspirit.com/history/chronology.html |date=23 April 2009 }}
• 24 February – Two Catholic teenagers, mistaken in the dark for a British Army foot patrol, are killed by the IRA in a remote-controlled bomb explosion at Darkley, County Armagh.
• 16 March – The Bennett Report, investigating allegations of ill treatment of people held in interrogation centres in Northern Ireland, is published and Government undertakes to implement major recommendations.
• 22 March – The IRA kills Richard Sykes, British Ambassador to the Netherlands, and his Dutch valet, in a gun attack in The Hague, Netherlands.{{Cite web|title=Sutton Index of Deaths – 1979|work=Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN)|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1979.html|accessdate=29 January 2010| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20100109041847/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1979.html| archivedate= 9 January 2010 | url-status= live}}
• 22 March – The IRA carries out a series of attacks across Northern Ireland with 24 bomb explosions.
• 30 March – Airey Neave, Conservative Party Spokesman on Northern Ireland, is killed by an Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) booby-trap bomb attached to his car at the House of Commons, London.

• 5 April – Two British Army soldiers are shot dead by the IRA while standing outside Andersonstown joint Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and British Army base in Belfast.
• 11 April – Two British Army soldiers die as the result of a gun attack carried out by the IRA in Ballymurphy, Belfast.
• 16 April – A prison officer is shot dead by the IRA as he leaves a church in Clogher, County Tyrone, where his sister had just been married.
• 17 April – Four RUC officers are killed when the IRA explodes a 1,000-pound van bomb at Bessbrook, County Armagh.
• 19 April – A female prison officer is shot dead and three colleagues are injured in an IRA gun and grenade attack outside Armagh women's prison.
• 19 April – A British Army school cadet officer is shot dead by an IRA sniper in Belfast.
• 7 June – European Parliament election, the first direct election to the European Parliament. The Democratic Unionist Party, Social Democratic and Labour Party and Official Ulster Unionist Party each gain an MEP.

• 14 July – In Crossmaglen, County Armagh, Gaelic Athletic Association supporters parade silently in protest against the British Army's commandeering of part of the local football pitch.
• 27 August – In the Warrenpoint ambush the IRA kill eighteen British soldiers in two bomb explosions.
• 11 September – BBC Radio Foyle begins broadcasting.
• 29 September – Pope John Paul II, in Drogheda at the start of a 3-day visit to Ireland, appeals for an end to violence in Northern Ireland. Plans for him to extend his visit to Northern Ireland have been abandoned.

• Irish League

::Winners: Linfield

• Irish Cup

::Winners: Cliftonville 3 – 2 Portadown

• Robert Dunlop makes his road race debut at the Temple 100.

• 11 January – Michael Duff, footballer.
• 27 February – Neil Anderson, cricketer.
• 3 April – Neil Best, rugby player.
• 15 May – Sean Friars, footballer.
• 18 May – Richard McKinney, footballer.
• 25 May – Andy Kirk, footballer.
• 28 May – Michael Halliday, footballer.
• 19 June – John Duddy, boxer.
• 20 June – Stuart Robinson, radio DJ.
• 30 June – Darren Kelly, footballer.

• 30 July – Graeme McDowell, golfer.
• 3 August – Paul McCloskey, boxer.
• 5 August – Richard Graham, footballer.
• 5 August – David Healy, footballer.
• 8 November – Aaron Hughes, international footballer.
• 24 November – Aidan O'Kane, footballer.
• 5 December – Gareth McAuley, footballer.
• 31 December – Emma Little-Pengelly, Democratic Unionist Party MP.

• 4 June – James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Abercorn, soldier and politician (born 1904).
• 10 August – Joseph O'Doherty, Sinn Féin MP, Fianna Fáil TD and Seanad member (born 1891).
• 15 November – Patrick McGilligan, Cumann na nGaedheal/Fine Gael TD and Cabinet Minister (born 1889).
• 17 December – Harold Jackson, cricketer (born 1888).

• Billy McCracken, footballer and football manager (born 1883).

• 1979 in Scotland
• 1979 in Wales

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Northern Ireland

Category:1979 in Europe