Revision 10619890 of "February 2005 in Britain and Ireland" on enwiki

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''This page deals with current events in the English-speaking places of [[Europe]]. These are [[England]], [[Wales]], [[Scotland]], [[Northern Ireland]], the [[Republic of Ireland]], the [[Isle of Man]], [[Jersey]], [[Guernsey]] and [[Gibraltar]].''
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{{Current events box| in Britain and Ireland}}
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===Deaths in February===
* [[February 9|9]] [[Kate Peyton]]

''[[Recent deaths|Other recent deaths]]''

===Ongoing events===

===Future events===
[[2005]]: [[UK general election, 2005]]<br>

===Upcoming holidays===

===Upcoming sports events===
====[[Cricket]]====

====[[Football]]====
[[FA Cup]] &ndash; 5th Round, [[19 February]]

===Related pages===
[[2005 in the United Kingdom|2005 in the UK]]<br>
[[2005 in Ireland]]<br>
[[Wikipedia:How the Current events page works|About this page]]<br/>

|}

==[[February 27]] [[2005]]==
The [[British Library]] reveals that 8000 items, worth at least £250000, are confirmed as missing or stolen since [[1997]], including [[map]]s of [[Britain]] from [[1626]] and the first appearances of [[Dan Dare]] and [[Dennis the Menace (UK)|Dennis the Menace]]. [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1502486,00.html Sunday Times]

==[[February 20]] [[2005]]==
* [[Irish Minister for Justice]] [[Michael McDowell]] directly accuses [[Sinn Féin]] leader [[Gerry Adams]] as well as [[Martin McGuinness]] (both elected [[Member of Parliament|MP]]s) and [[Martin Ferris]] [[TD (parliament)|TD]] of being on the [[Provisional IRA]] [[IRA Army Council|Army Council]], the first such direct accusation from the [[Irish Government]]. [http://212.2.162.45/news/story.asp?j=134311558&p=y343yzz64&n=134312318 (Ireland Online)]

==[[February 19]] [[2005]]==
*[[PSNI|Police]] in [[Northern Ireland]] confirm that £50,000 in unused [[Northern Bank]]notes found at Newforge Country Club, a facility for off-duty and retired police officers, was from the [[Northern Bank robbery]]. Police still consider it a diversion. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/4280713.stm (BBC)]

==[[February 18]] [[2005]]==
* The [[United Kingdom|UK]] [[Food Standards Agency]] orders the withdrawal of over 350 food products from sale following the discovery that a batch of [[chilli]] powder used to produce a batch of [[Worcestershire sauce|Worcester sauce]] subsequently used to produce processed foods was contaminated with the possibly-[[carcinogen]]etic dye [[Sudan I]]. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4277677.stm (BBC)][http://www.food.gov.uk/safereating/sudani/sudanlist (FSA list of withdrawn products)].
* [[Northern Bank robbery]] investigation:
:* [[PSNI|Police]] in [[Northern Ireland]] recover a sum of money at a sports and social club in [[Belfast]]. It is thought to perhaps be a diversion, but it is being investigated. [http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13300915,00.html (Sky News)]
:* A top Irish businessman and associate of the [[Taoiseach]], [[Phil Flynn]], has stepped down from a number of positions pending the outcome of a [[Garda]] investigation into [[Chesterton Finance]], of which he is a non-executive director. He stepped down as chairman of a government body overseeing decentralisation, as well as giving up a position on the board of [[Voluntary Health Insurance|VHI]] and as chairman of the [[Bank of Scotland (Ireland)]]. [http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=134142824&p=y34y4353x&n=134143584 (Ireland Online)]
:* A man was arrested by Gardaí near [[Passage West]] in [[Cork]], after he was discovered attempting to burn [[Pound Sterling|sterling]] banknotes. [http://212.2.162.45/news/story.asp?j=110192460&p=yyxy93x4x&n=110193069 (Ireland Online)]
:* Gardaí have released two men who were being questioned in Dublin, as well as a Sinn Féin member in [[Cork]]. A suspected [[Real IRA]] member arrested at [[Heuston Station]] has been remanded in custody, as have four people arrested in Farran in Cork. [http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0218/cork.html (RTÉ)]
:*[[Sinn Féin]] leader [[Gerry Adams]] has again denied any involvement on the part of his party with money laundering in the country. The [[Irish Government]] [[Irish Minister for Justice|Minister for Justice]] [[Michael McDowell]] has described the [[IRA]] as a colossal crime machine laundering huge sums of money. [http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0218/corkreax.html (RTÉ)]

==[[February 17]] [[2005]]==
* [[Garda Siochana|Irish police]] arrest four people in [[Cork]] and three in [[Dublin]] in raids concentrating on the financing of the [[Provisional IRA]]. Over 2.3 million [[Pound sterling|pounds sterling]] were seized in Cork, and £60,000 in [[Northern Bank]] notes believed to be from the £26.5 million robbery in [[Belfast]] just before Christmas. Among the people arrested are reported to be a [[Sinn Féin]] councillor and someone working in the banking industry. [http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0217/cork.html (RTE)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4274611.stm (BBC)].

==[[February 15]] [[2005]]==
* Yusuf Islam, formerly known as [[Cat Stevens]], receives substantial damages from two British newspapers, ''[[The Sun]]'' and ''[[The Sunday Times]]'', which alleged that the [[United States]] was correct to ban him from the country. The Sun has published, and the Sunday Times will publish, acknowledgments that he is not, and never has been, involved in or supported terrorism, and that he abhors all such activities. They also highlight that Islam was recently presented with the [[Man for Peace]] award by a group of Nobel Peace Laureates. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4268651.stm (BBC)]
* The [[European Court of Human Rights]] deciding about the so-called [[McLibel case]] rules in favour of environmental campaigners Helen Steel and David Morris and their claim that their trial was unfair. The pair said their human rights were violated when their criticism of [[McDonald's]] was ruled  [[libel]]. The case has taken 15 years. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4266209.stm (BBC)] [http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=173102005 (Scotsman)][http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/02/15/mclibel/ (CNN)]

==[[14 February]] [[2005]]==
*[[Hare coursing]]: As the final Waterloo Cup event in England starts in [[Great Altcar|Altcar]], four anti-coursing protesters are arrested. The event is expected to attract up to 10,000 spectators over its 3 days. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/4262065.stm (BBC)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4265251.stm (BBC)]
* [[London]]'s mayor [[Ken Livingstone]] is censured by the [[London Assembly]] for comparing a Jewish journalist for the [[Evening Standard]] to a [[concentration camp]] guard. Livingstone refuses to withdraw his comments. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4262833.stm (BBC)]

==[[11 February]] [[2005]]==
*[[Prime Minister]] [[Tony Blair]] heralds what is described as the "officially unoffical" start to the [[UK general election, 2005/06|General Election]] [[campaign]] with a [[whistlestop tour]] of [[marginal constituency|marginal constituencies]], unveiling six election [[pledge]]s. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4255791.stm (BBC)][http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4257565.stm (The pledges)]

==[[10 February]] [[2005]]==
*[[British House of Commons|The House of Commons]] passes the [[Identity Cards Bill]] at its third reading by 224 votes to 64, with a majority of 160.  Most of the Conservative Party's MPs abstain.  19 Labour MPs and 11 Conservative MPs defy the whip and vote against the bill, which now moves on to the [[House of Lords]]. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4252919.stm (BBC)]
*[[Clarence House]] announces that [[Prince Charles, Prince of Wales]] is to marry [[Camilla Parker Bowles]] on Friday [[8 April]] in a civil ceremony at [[Windsor Castle]]. She will be styled "HRH The Duchess of Cornwall", and when Charles becomes king, "HRH The Princess Consort". [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/4252795.stm (BBC)]

==[[9 February]] [[2005]]==
*Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]] issues a public apology to the 11 members of the Conlon and McGuire families who were wrongly convicted for the Guildford and Woolwich [[Provisional IRA|IRA]] pub bombings of [[1974]] when seven people were killed. the surviving members of the families were released in [[1989]] when the scientific evidence against them was discredited. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4249175.stm (BBC)]
*[[Ofcom]] issues a proposed timetable for ending analogue terrestrial television transmissions, as part of the switchover to [[digital television]]. By [[ITV]] region, these are: 2008:- [[Border Television|Border]], [[Westcountry Television|Westcountry]], [[HTV|HTV Wales]]; 2009:- [[Granada television|Granada]], [[HTV|HTV West]], [[Scottish Television|Scottish TV]], [[Grampian Television|Grampian TV]]; 2010:- [[Central Independent Television|Central TV]], [[Yorkshire Television|Yorkshire TV]], [[Anglia Television|Anglia TV]]; 2011:- [[Meridian Broadcasting|Meridian]], [[Carlton]]/[[London Weekend Television|LWT]], [[Tyne Tees Television|Tyne Tees]], [[Ulster Television|Ulster TV]]; 2012:- [[Channel Television|Channel TV]]. [http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/dsoind/smup/ (Ofcom)]
==[[2 February]] [[2005]]==
*The [[Provisional IRA]] issue a statement to the [[Irish Republican|Republican]] newspaper [[An Phoblacht]] withdrawing from its commitment to the decommissioning of weapons and other deals related to the [[Northern Ireland peace process]].[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4231237.stm (BBC)] [http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4083056 (The Scotsman)]
*Two [[firefighter]]s and a member of the public die in a fire on the 14th and 15th floors of a 17-storey tower block in [[Stevenage]], [[Hertfordshire]]. Seven other people are hospitalised, one in serious condition, and 70 people are evacuated from the block. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/4228737.stm (BBC)].
*[[Robert Kilroy-Silk]] offically launches the [[Veritas (political party)|Veritas]] political party, on an anti-[[immigration]] platform, after quitting the [[eurosceptic]] [[UK Independence Party]] after a failed leadership bid. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4227921.stm (BBC)] [http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/16311399?source=PA&ct=5 (ThisIsLondon)] [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/otherparties/story/0,9061,1404085,00.html (Guardian)]

==Past British and Irish events by month==

*[[2005 in the United Kingdom]]: [[January 2005 in Britain and Ireland|January]]
*[[2004 in the United Kingdom]]: [[December 2004 in Britain and Ireland|December]]

''(For earlier events in Britain and Ireland, see [[November 2004]] and preceding months)''