1950-59

April 11th, 1951: Dr Noel Browne is forced to resign as Minister for Health when his controversial Mother-and-Child scheme loses Cabinet and party support. The Inter-Party Government withdraws its support for the maternity aid scheme after the Catholic hierarchy condemns it as contrary to moral law and an invasion into the intimacies of family life. "It is certain that the good will of the people follows him in his fall," comments The Irish Times.

May 30th, 1951: Fianna Fail is returned with an overall majority of two seats in the general election while Clann na Phoblachta is almost wiped out, winning only two seats. Eamon de Valera is appointed Taoiseach on June 13th with the support of Independents and, with the brief exception of a second Inter-Party Government between 1954 to 1957, Fianna Fail remains in office until 1973.

January 10th, 1952: The Aer Lingus plane, the St Kevin, crashes on Moel Siabod in the Welsh mountains en route from Northolt, killing all 23 passengers.

June 14th, 1952: The Social Welfare Act establishes a co-ordinated system of social welfare. On October 29th 1953, the Health Act provides for a free Mother-and-Child health care scheme.

June 2nd, 1953: The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II is marked by a picket of the British embassy in Dublin by the Anti-Partition Association.

April 20th, 1954: Limerick man Michael Manning (25) is the last man to be judicially executed at Mountjoy jail for the murder of an elderly nurse.

February 28th, 1955: There is rioting outside the Gaiety Theatre by protesters over "blasphemous" material in Sean O'Casey's new play The Bishop's Bonfire.

The disturbances do not deter theatregoers, over 1,000 of whom queue for the 400 gallery seats.

October 15th, 1955: Archbishop John Charles McQuaid (right) calls for a Republic of Ireland v Yugoslavia soccer match to be abandoned in protest over the imprisonment of Archbishop Stepanic by the Yugoslav government. Capacity crowds turn up at Dalymount Park for the match on October 19th.

December 14th, 1955: Ireland becomes a member of the United Nations. The first Irish army officers depart for the Lebanon as UN observers on June 27th, 1958.

December 12th, 1956: The IRA launches a campaign of attack on 10 different targets in Northern Ireland, marking the initiation of its Border campaign. "Operation Harvest" results in the deaths of six members of the RUC and 11 IRA volunteers. The Irish Government invokes Part II of the Offences Against the State Act, 1940 on July 8th 1957 to deal with the situation.

May 13th, 1957: A boycott on Protestant shopkeepers and business people by their Catholic neighbours in Fethard-on-sea, Co Wexford is sparked by a dispute between a Catholic farmer and his Protestant wife in which she absconds, taking their two young daughters. "Some of them believe that Mrs Cloney left with the financial assistance and connivance of local Protestants - these allegations have been strongly denied by the Protestants," says an Irish Times report.

May 13th-27th, 1957: Alan Simpson, co-director of the Pike Theatre Club in Herbert Lane, is arrested during the first Dublin Theatre Festival and jailed overnight at the Bridewell for "having produced for gain an indecent or profane performance". He is arrested under a 19th century law because a condom appeared on stage during a production of Tennessee Williams's The Rose Tattoo.

November 11th, 1958: Programme for Economic Expansion white paper is laid before the Dail. Based on T.K. Whitaker's far-reaching analysis of the economy, Economic Development, the plan recommends that public money be concentrated on attracting foreign capital, increasing the competitiveness of Irish industry by scaling down of protective tariffs, and building up the export market.

June 17th, 1959: Eamon de Valera is elected third President of the Republic. Sean Lemass succeeds de Valera as leader of Fianna Fail on June 23rd.

July 9th, 1959: May Margaret Browne from Castlerea, Co Roscommon, is the first of an initial group of 12 women recruits to the Garda Siochana. James Dillon of Fine Gael tells The Irish Times that "the evil" of the Garda Siochana Bill (1958) was that the oral Irish requirement would penalise some candidates. "Could we imagine a policewoman in Meath Street or Summerhill, Dublin, being challenged in Irish and being required to discharge her duties through the medium?" he asks.