This is a summary of 2010 in Ireland.
Incumbents
President: Mary McAleese
Taoiseach: Brian Cowen (FF) Tánaiste: Mary Coughlan (FF) Minister for Finance: Brian Lenihan (FF) Chief Justice: John L. Murray Dáil: 30th Seanad: 23rd
Events
January
4 January – Met Éireann says Ireland is experiencing its most extreme cold spell of weather since 1963. 5 January – a bomb alert on Dorset Street in Dublin is caused when officials at a Slovakian airport plant explosives on an innocent civilian and allow him to leave the country on Danube Wings Flight V5 8230 in a security test gone wrong. 7 January – schools remain shut following the holiday period due to extreme weather. Taoiseach Brian Cowen makes his first comments on the matter. Schools remain shut anyway. Minister for Education and Science Batt O'Keeffe later changes his mind. 13 January – an Arkefly Boeing 767 flying from Amsterdam to the Netherlands Antilles is grounded at Shannon Airport after a man claims there is a bomb on board. All 242 passengers and crew are evacuated. 44-year-old Jorge Flores appears in court in Ennis to be charged for this the following day. 22 January – the internationally renowned Waterford Crystal tourist centre in Kilbarry, County Waterford ceases to function. 25–27 January – Taoiseach Brian Cowen joins UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown at Hillsborough Castle in Belfast for cross-party talks on the devolution of policing and justice powers to the Northern Ireland administration. 26 January – Edwin Curry from Kilkenny is sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted of 189 counts of indecent assault against children between 1964 and 1985. 28 January – former national swimming coach Ger Doyle is convicted of 34 counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault against children in his care and sentenced to six and half years in prison.
February
3 February – a fireball is seen across Ireland when a meteoroid explodes at an altitude of 100 miles, and fragments enter the atmosphere. Public excitement tonight causes Astronomy Ireland's website to crash. 8 February – George Lee resigns from Fine Gael and Dáil Éireann with immediate effect, nine months after his election. 12 February Déirdre de Búrca resigns from the Green Party and Seanad Éireann with immediate effect and criticises her former party leader John Gormley. a fire on Dublin's Capel Street destroys a head shop and a sex shop and forces the street to be shut down for the weekend. 13 February – West Jewellers of Grafton Street in Dublin closes down after 290 years. 18 February – Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea resigns after a controversy surrounding his remarks on a rival politician's relationship with brothels. Taoiseach Brian Cowen assigns himself temporary responsibility for the Department of Defence. 23 February – former Green Party leader Trevor Sargent resigns as a Minister of State after accepting that he made 'an error of judgment' in contacting gardaí about a case involving a constituent.