John Paul II arrived at Dublin Airport for a three-day visit to Ireland. 1.25 million people, just over one-quarter of the population, welcomed him at a special mass in the Phoenix Park. Later in the day he spoke to 200,000 people at Drogheda, County Louth. He returned to Dublin in the evening where 750,000 people witnessed his motorcade passing through the city. 30 September – The Pope addressed 285,000 people at a youth rally in Galway, before travelling to Knock, County Mayo where a further 300,000 people heard him speak. He also visited Clonmacnoise. 1 October – On the final day of his visit, the Pope visited the Nunciature at Maynooth College and celebrated mass before 400,000 people in Limerick. He then left Shannon Airport for Boston in the United States. 23 November – In Dublin, IRA member Thomas McMahon was sentenced to life imprisonment for the assassination of Lord Mountbatten. 29 November – Taoiseach Jack Lynch greeted European Economic Community heads of government as they arrived for a summit meeting at Dublin Castle. 5 December – Jack Lynch announced his resignation as Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil. He had led the party for thirteen years, spending nine as Taoiseach. 7 December Charles Haughey was elected leader of the Fianna Fáil party. The new headquarters of the Central Bank of Ireland were officially opened on Dame Street. 11 December Charles Haughey was elected Taoiseach by Dáil Éireann. Máire Geoghegan-Quinn was appointed Minister for the Gaeltacht, the first woman to hold an Irish cabinet post since the Government of the 1st Dáil. 31 December – 1979 was the worst year ever for industrial disputes in Ireland, costing the economy over 1,460,000 working days. Undated – The Central Bank of Ireland postponed the issue of a new £20 note, blue in colour, bearing an image of the poet William Butler Yeats until January 1980 due to financial problems. Arts and literature 17 March – Bob Quinn's feature film Poitín, starring Cyril Cusack and made entirely in Irish, premièred on RTÉ Television. 31 May – Radio Telefís Éireann's national pop music radio station, RTÉ Radio 2, first aired; the old Radio Éireann was renamed RTÉ Radio 1. 21 July – The Boomtown Rats' single "I Don't Like Mondays", written by Bob Geldof, was released in the United Kingdom. Crawford Art Gallery established as a separate institution in the former Cork Customs House