Saturday/Sunday
THOUSANDS of Orangemen from around Northern Ireland gathered at Drumcree parish church near Portadown, after the local Orange Lodge was prevented from marching through the nationalist Garvaghy Road area by the security forces. Unionist leaders united in condemning the decision by the RUC Chief Constable, Sir Hugh Annesley, to ban the march. Disruptive protests were set up by Orangemen throughout the North.
In Dublin, gardai and Customs seized smuggled cigarettes valued at £250,000 belonging to one of the city's major criminals under investigation for the murder of journalist, Veronica Guerin.
Forensic investigators from the United Nations began excavating 12 mass grave sites in Bosnia, where between 3,000 and 8,000 Muslim victims of last year's Srebrenica massacre are buried.
Monday
A Catholic taxi driver was shot dead in his car near Aghagallon, Co Armagh. Mr Michael McGoldrick (31), married with a seven-year-old daughter, was murdered after collecting a fare in Lurgan. Dissident loyalists were suspected of being responsible for the murder, according to the RUC.
As the stand-off between 5,000 orangemen and over 2,000 security forces continued at Drumcree, trouble was reported throughout the North. Rioting erupted in Belfast and Catholic families were forced to leave their homes in the north of the city. Roads were blocked and vehicles hijacked.
The first reported case of the Internet being used to make allegations of child abuse against an Irishman emerged in a database compiled by an organisation in the US.
Writer, politician and former Government minister, Dr Conor Cruise O'Brien (78), was admitted to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin after suffering a mild stroke. His condition was described as "stable".
It emerged that vandals had desecrated one of Ireland's most historic and religious sites at St Michan's Church in Dublin at the weekend. Over 50 coffins containing ancient mummified remains were destroyed by a fire set in the church's crypt.
South African President Nelson Mandela started a five-day visit to Britain.
A nine-year-old school girl, Jade Matthews, was found battered to death on a railway line close to her Liverpool home. A machete-wielding attacker stabbed four adults and three children in the playground of an infant school in Wolverhampton.
Tuesday
More than 50 people were arrested as the security crisis deepened throughout Northern Ireland. The British government announced that an extra 1,000 troops would he sent to the North, as clashes and arson attacks took place. Belfast was most affected by disturbances.
A young Tipperary man 22-year-old David Nugent, was stabbed to death in the Haywood area of Clonmel. The motive may have been drug-related, according to gardai.
It was announced that the Brixton prison escaper, Pearse McAuley, had broken his bail conditions. He had not signed up at Nenagh Garda station since June 16th.
The Government confirmed the appointment of Mr Michael Patrick Byrne as the new Garda Commissioner. The appointment of a new High Court judge and nine new circuit court judges was also announced by the Government as part of its new anti-crime package.
The managing director of Bord na Mona, Dr Eddie O'Connor, was suspended by the Government, pending further inquiries into his remuneration package.
The cost of a television licence was increased by £8, bringing the cost of a colour licence to £70 and a black and white licence to £52.
A 32-year-old man, Mr Horrett Irving Campbell, was arrested by police in Wolverhampton in connection with a machete attack at a local school.
Wednesday
Normal social and commercial life ground to a halt in the North. Rioting developed in Belfast, with confrontation across police and British army lines accompanied by the hijacking of vehicles, road blocks, disruption of traffic and continuing Orange marches.
The SDLP deputy leader, Mr Seamus Mallon, said the North was going through "the most tense period I have seen in 25 years".
The four main church leaders tried unsuccessfully to mediate a compromise over the Drumcree march, between the 450 families resident in the Catholic Garvaghy Road housing estate and the Orange Order.
In Dublin, a community leader in the Tallaght housing estate of Killinarden claimed that a nine-year-old boy was injecting heroin.
The EU Farm Commissioner, Mr Franz Fischler, predicted that the BSE crisis would cost the Union £1,200 million this year.
Thursday
Three RUC officers were shot and injured in two separate incidents in north Belfast. The men were the first police officers to be shot in the North since the IRA ceasefire was declared in 1994.
There were serious disturbances in nationalist areas, following widespread anger at a decision to let Orange marchers proceed down the Garvaghy Road. Rioting broke out in nationalist areas of Belfast, Derry, Armagh and Lurgan.
Following the RUC decision to let the march proceed, the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, held a 25-minute telephone conversation with the British Prime Minister, Mr John Major which was described as "difficult and frank" by a Government spokesman.
In Dublin, over £2 million worth of computer components were stolen when a lorry was hijacked near the airport. It is believed to be the biggest robbery of its kind in the State.