2005 Year in Review
January 4 - MOIP system goes live.
January 12 - Minister of State at the Department of Trade and Employment, Tony Killeen T.D., launches HSA ESB Strategic Alliance.
January 20 - Speed finally goes metric in Ireland with the abolition of all signs and regulations in miles and the complete adoption of the metric system on the Republic's roads and motorways. Speed limits go metric too.
January 24 - Former minister Ray Burke is jailed for six months for tax evasion.
February 17 - Police in Cork arrest three men and confiscate over £2.3 million in banknotes as part of their investigation into the Northern Bank robbery in Belfast. February - Response to ElectricAid's appeal for funds for victims of the Tsunami reach unprecedented proportions.
February 23 - Board of EirGrid plc announces the appointment of Dermot Byrne as Chief Executive.
February 26 - For the first time ever in his 26-year papacy, Pope John Paul II is unable to bless the faithful at the weekly Angelus prayer service due to illness.
February 27 - ESB MADSOC celebrates its 21st Anniversary with Gala Concert at NCH.
February 28 - Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby wins an Oscar for Best Picture and Eastwood also wins the award for Best Director. March - Board of ESB approves in principle the sale of the company's Retail outlets to Banks of Scotland (Ireland).
March 10 - The Travers Report into the illegal charging of patients in residential care is published. The report states that 315,818 people were illegally charged for long-term residential care since 1976.
March 12 - The coalition parties fail to win a seat in two byelections when Shane McEntee of Fine Gael takes a seat in Meath and independent Catherine Murphy is elected in Kildare North.
March 26 - Jennifer Anniston files for divorce from husband Brad Pitt after five years of marriage.
April 1-2 - ESB Power Challenge takes place in Killarney with international teams coming from Amorebieta in Spain and Pakistan.
April 2 - Pope John Paul II dies in Rome after one of the longest papal reigns of modern times. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is later elected his successor and takes the name Pope Benedict XVI.
April 4 - ESBI Engineering (UK) announces sale of its UK-based electrical construction business to Enterprise plc for approximately €17 million.
April 9 - The wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles takes place having been postponed out of consideration for the funeral of the Pope.
April 21 - Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen, T.D., officially opens new Lough Ree Power Station in Lanesboro, Co. Longford.
May 4 - ESB announces finalisation of a €1.2bn borrowing facility with a syndicate of Irish and international banks.
May 7 - Record numbers turn out for annual Sligo Walk.
May 20 - Finglas (Dublin North) team emerges winners at the ESB Networks Challenge held in Portlaoise.
May 23 - Five schoolgirls from the Loreto convent in Navan die in a school bus accident in Meath. Six others are injured.
May 31 - Ex-FBI Deputy Director W. Mark Felt admits that he is Deep Throat, the source behind many of the revelations in the Watergate scandal that forced Richard Nixon from power.
June 6 - ESB Customer Supply launches new TV advertisements.
June 11 - Irish boxer Kevin McBride defeats Mike Tyson after the former champion quits six rounds into their fight.
June 22nd - Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Noel Dempsey, T.D., and Ms Angela Smith, MP, N.I. Minister for Energy, officially open Coolkeeragh ESB 400MW CCGT Plant in Derry.
June 25 - Irish and Lions captain Brian O'Driscoll lasts two minutes in the first Test against the All Blacks before an alleged ‘spear tackle' dislocates his shoulder and ends his tour.
July - ESBI announces it has won a €9.65m contract to operate and maintain a large coal-fired power station at Manjung in Malaysia.
July 5th - ESB announces company's sponsorship of Irish Senior Women's Hockey.
July 7 - Terror strikes London when four suicide bombers linked to Al Qaeda kill 56 and injure over 700 people in a series of bombings on the city's Tube and bus services during the morning rush hour. July 8th - Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen T.D., officially opens the new West Offaly Power 150MW peat powered plant at Shannonbridge.
July 15th - Memorial seat unveiled at Tarbert Power Station in memory of the late Michael Healy and Pat McCrohan, who lost their lives as a result of a tragic accident in July 2003.
August 10th - ESB announces the company's sponsorship of the All Ireland Minor Football and Minor Hurling Championships.
August 29 - Hurricane Katrina, a Category 4 storm, makes landfall just east of New Orleans.
August 31 - Michael Owen leaves Real Madrid and signs for Newcastle United.
September - Minister for Communications, Marine & Natural Resources formally launches an ESB funding initiative to provide €1 million per year for programmes aimed at suicide prevention and care for the homeless.
September 7 - Cork defeat Galway to win the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.
September 12 - England draw with Australia in the final cricket test but win the Ashes for the first time since 1987.
September 17 - Terry Wogan, Bob Geldof and McCartney sisters among winners of ESB/Rehab People of the Year Awards. September 25 - Tyrone defeats Kerry to become All-Ireland Senior Football champions.
September 26 - General John de Chastelain, head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, announces in a Belfast press conference that the arsenal of the Provisional IRA has been "put beyond use". October - ESB staff respond to aid assistance call by our colleagues in ESBI in Pakistan to alleviate the devastation following the earthquake in the Kashmir region on October 8th.
October - EM launches its new look. The redesign and fresh content spark record competition entries.
October 19 - ESB opens first internationally owned independent power plant in the Basque region of Spain.
October 26 - The Chicago White Sox defeat the Houston Astros to win their first World Series baseball championship since 1917.
October 28 - Elvis Presley tops US magazine Forbes' list of top 10 earning dead celebrities for the fifth year in a row earning $45 million in royalties. John Lennon is third with $22 million and Andy Warhol fourth earning $16 million.
November 3 - ESB Medical Provident Fund celebrates its 50th Anniversary.
November 7-11 - ElectricAid launches major recruitment drive.
November 7-13 - Anti-Racist Workplace Week identifies communications as core theme.
November 21 - Bellacorick marks closure of station with social event in Breaffy House Hotel in Castlebar at which some 430 exstaff and guests attended.
November 25 - Former Manchester United great George Best dies at 59 after a long battle with alcohol and ill health. His funeral in Belfast is attended by thousands of mourners.
November 30 - Surgeons in France carry out the first ever human face transplant.
December 5 - The first witness to give evidence in person takes the stand at Saddam Hussein's trial in Iraq.
December 6 - ESB receives ACCA Award for Corporate Social Responsibility.
December 7 - Eugene Quinn, ex Moneypoint staff, is first prize winner for ElectricAid's monthly draw.
