How well do you remember what happened in 2003?

Most of these events have been covered in An Phoblacht's pages over the past year. As an antidote to the British queen's speech, strain the brain to see how far you get with what happened in the real world.

1. It was revealed that Ulster Unionist MP David Burnside was actually interviewed in 1977 for the job as press officer for which organisation?

a. Virgin Airline

b. Fine Gael

c. The UDA

d. The National Lottery

2. The new beginning to policing started this year under a cloud when Chief Constable Hugh Orde called for the Peelers to be given what?

a. New helicopter 'spy in the sky'

b. CS gas

c. British-style helmets

d. Free deodorant

3. Which mayor defied his party and voted in January to impose a bin tax, had the whip removed but was allowed to stay as a leading light?

4. Which 'left-wing' TD supported the deployment of Irish troops at Shannon to protect Gulf-bound US warplanes from Irish peace protestors?

5. How did Gulf-bound British soldiers protect themselves against being made sterile by chemical weapons?

6. Mikhail Kalashnikov announced that a German company wanted to put his world-famous brand on umbrellas and what else?

7. North Down DUP Mayor Alan Graham smelt an all-Ireland plot in which event being held in the Six Counties?

8. RTÉ staged a TV coup with the award-winning documentary, True Lives: Surviving the Coup, about the political upheaval in which country?

9. Professional, self-proclaimed 'working-class Dub', Bertie Ahern, told Sinn Féin's Seán Crowe TD that his government was not going to mark the 90th anniversary of which historic event?

10. Lawyer Stephen Downes was arrested in a US shopping mall for wearing a T-shirt bearing which controversial slogan?

a. Impeach Bush

b. Victory to the Iraqi resistance

c. Eat my shorts

d. Give peace a chance

11. Who spoke in the Dáil debate pledging Ireland's support for the Anglo-US Gulf War only to claim later that he really opposed the war?

12. In the same debate, which of these supported self-determination for the Kurds?

a. Labour

b. Green Party

c. Sinn Féin

d. Independents

13. Which British Top Ten author said that if he'd been born in Derry instead of London he would have joined the IRA?

14. Who said: "Put down your gun and listen to Bob Marley."

a. Jamaican Prime Minister

b. Danny Morrison

c. Nelson Mandela

d. Former UN General Secretary Boutros Boutros Ghali

15. Ireland saw the launch of which daily newspaper?

16. Which heavyweight boxing legend visited Sinn Féin Mayor of Belfast for the Sports Achievers' Awards, pioneered by Alex Maskey.

17. In May, the man who brought Nelson Mandela into the ANC died in Johannesburg. Who was he?

18. Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council unveiled a new fountain in honour of which controversial British figure?

a. Oliver Cromwell

b. The Duke of Wellington

c. Queen Victoria

d. Field Marshal Montgomery

19. The Court of Appeal ruled in June that Scots Guardsmen James Fisher and Mark Wright, convicted of the murder of Belfast man Peter McBride, should have been dismissed from the British Army. How did Tony Blair's Minister John Spellar respond?

20. July saw hundreds of pike men and pike women march in Dublin to celebrate the 1803 Robert Emmet Rising and which other historical event?

21. Which town earned the mantle of Ireland's 'First Official Fair Trade Town'?

22. Where was Ian Paisley Junior confronted by a streaker?

a. Sammy Wilson's house warming

b. Buckingham Palace

c. The Botanic Gardens

d. In his dreams

23. Which chart-topping US band received death threats, was banned from radio station playlists and got the full McCarthy witch-hunt treatment after daring to question the wisdom behind the Anglo-US Gulf War?

24. Rory Brady told a US lawyers' conference: "There is a well-based suspicion of involvement of agents of the state in the murder of Pat Finucane." Who is Rory Brady?

a. The former president of Sinn Féin

b. The 26-County Attorney General

c. The Canadian Attorney General

d. The Australian Attorney General

25. The Palestinian cause lost one of its most eloquent voices in October with the death of which writer?

26. Which company paid US pop star Justin Timberlake $6 million for advertising its products but opposed paying its Dublin staff the €6.35 an hour minimum wage for actually selling them?

27. Which Irish multimillionaire tax exile said: "I think people are too negative towards politicians, government and entrepreneurs. We are fast turning into a communist state."

28. Which Liverpool legend said they "adored the music of Orange bands" despite being a Catholic?

a. Graham Souness

b. Paul McCartney

c. Cilla Black

d. Derek Hatton

29. Why did Spain's Sports Minister wave and yell during the playing of the Spanish national anthem during the Davis Tennis Cup Final in Australia?

30. The Irish Management Institute revealed that the pay packets of Irish bosses rose by up to how much over the previous year?

a. 5%

b 15%

c. 25%

d. 50%