Events from the year 1958 in Ireland. Incumbents President: Seán T. O'Kelly Taoiseach: Éamon de Valera (FF) Tánaiste: Seán Lemass (FF) Minister for Finance: James Ryan (FF) Chief Justice: Conor Maguire Dáil: 16th Seanad: 9th Events 6 February – Billy Whelan, a 22-year-old forward who played four times for the Irish national football team, was among 21 people killed in the Munich air disaster involving English football league champions Manchester United. He had played nearly 100 times for United in the space of three years, scoring 52 goals and winning two league titles. 18 March – Taoiseach Éamon de Valera said he would be willing to have talks with the government of Northern Ireland on wider economic co-operation. 20 March – Work began on the £80,000 restoration of the State Rooms at Dublin Castle. 10 May – The Independent TD, Jack Murphy, resigned in protest at the indifference of the main political parties to the plight of the unemployed. 12 May – Ardmore Film Studios were opened by Seán Lemass. 22 May – The Minister for Education, Jack Lynch, told the Dáil that the ruling requiring women teachers to retire on marriage is to be revoked. 25 July – £100 damages were awarded to a nine-year-old who was beaten by his teacher in a national school. 28 July – The Carlisle Monument, an eight-foot bronze statue in the Phoenix Park in Dublin, was blown up in the early hours. 6 August – Australian athlete Herb Elliott shattered the world record for the mile at Santry Stadium in Dublin, recording a time of 3 minutes 54.5 seconds. 8 August – The US Embassy in Merrion Square displayed plans for a new embassy in Dublin. 8 September – Pan Am's Boeing 707 became the first jetliner to touch down on European soil at Shannon Airport. 1 October – Assets and management of the Great Northern Railway were divided between and the Ulster Transport Authority. 29 October – The Government announced that the question of ending the proportional representation method of voting was to be put to the people in a referendum. 4 November – In the Vatican, Taoiseach Éamon de Valera attended the four-hour coronation of Pope John XXIII. 31 December – The Harcourt Street railway line in Dublin, serving Ranelagh, Milltown, Dundrum, Stillorgan, Foxrock, Carrickmines, Shankill and Bray, closed. Arts and literature 21 February – Desmond Guinness established the Irish Georgian