John McConnell, economics expert, journalist and civil servant. 27 December – Patrick J. Reynolds, Fine Gael TD and Senator (born 1920). 30 December – Archbishop Michael Courtney Papal Nuncio to Burundi who was assassinated. 31 December – Gerald Goldberg, lawyer, Fianna Fáil politician and first Jewish Lord Mayor of Cork (born 1912). See also 2003 in Irish television References