the New Year Honours 2008. Arts and literature 8 February - Writer, broadcaster and journalist, Benedict Kiely, dies. 16 February - Maria Eagle, direct rule Arts Minister, announces a "one-off payment" of £150,000 to sustain the Belfast Festival at Queen's for one more year. 19 October - The 45th Belfast Festival at Queen's opens with a smaller than usual programme due to lack of funding. 18 December - Arts Minister, Edwin Poots, announces a grant of £300,000 over three years for Belfast Festival at Queen's. Malachi O'Doherty's memoir The Telling Year: Belfast 1972 is publishedl. Sport Athletics 6 January - 30th Belfast International Cross Country Event, Stormont Estate, Belfast. 1 February - Armagh International 5k Road Race, The Mall, Armagh. 3 February - Northern Ireland and Ulster Cross Country Championships, University of Ulster, Coleraine. Individual winners: Kelly Reid and Brian Campbell. 17 February-18 February - Irish Indoor Athletics Championships, Odyssey Arena, Belfast. Cricket 2007 Cricket World Cup: In a successful world cup debut, the Ireland cricket team qualified from the group stage for the Super 8 stage, notably defeating Pakistan cricket team in the process. Football European Championship Qualifiers 24 March - Liechtenstein 1 - 4 Northern Ireland 28 March - Northern Ireland 2 - 1 Sweden 22 August - Northern Ireland 3 - 1 Liechtenstein 8 September - Latvia 1 - 0 Northern Ireland 12 September - Iceland 2 - 1 Northern Ireland 17 October - Sweden 1 - 1 Northern Ireland 17 November - Northern Ireland 2 - 1 Denmark 21 November - Spain 1 - 0 Northern Ireland Northern Ireland came third in the group and failed to qualify. Other International Matches Northern Ireland 0 - 0 Wales (6 February) Setanta Cup Winners: Drogheda United Irish League Winners: Linfield Irish Cup Winners: Linfield Gaelic Athletic Association 15 July - Tyrone defeat Monaghan 1-15 to 1-13 in the final of the Ulster Senior Football Championship. Golf 8 September - 9 September - Walker Cup takes place at Royal County Down Golf Club, Newcastle, County Down. Pádraig Harrington wins the British Open in Carnoustie, Scotland. Rory McIlroy wins the silver medal for leading amateur. Darren Clarke misses the cut. Motorcycling 12 May - North West 200 17 August - Ulster Grand Prix, Dundrod. Rugby Union RBS Six Nations Championship 4 February - Wales 9 - 19 Ireland 11 February - Ireland 17 - 20 France 24 February - Ireland