Anthony Coughlan is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

academic, secretary of the

National Platform The National Platform for EU Research and Information Centre shortened to National Platform is an Irish Eurosceptic lobby group which campaigns against greater European Union integration, and against a Federal superstate. It is a member of the ...

, and retired Senior Lecturer Emeritus in Social Policy at

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. He has contributed to various debates in the media such as on RTÉ's '' Questions and Answers'', both in his capacity as a lecturer and as a spokesperson for lobby groups such as the

. He opposed EU enlargement and EU treaties such as the

Single European Act The Single European Act (SEA) was the first major revision of the 1957 Treaty of Rome. The Act set the European Community an objective of establishing a single market by 31 December 1992, and a forerunner of the European Union's Common Foreign ...

Maastricht Treaty The Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty, is the foundation treaty of the European Union (EU). Concluded in 1992 between the then-twelve member states of the European Communities, it announced "a new stage in the ...

Amsterdam Treaty The Treaty of Amsterdam, officially the Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties establishing the European Communities and certain related acts, was signed on 2 October 1997, and entered into force on 1 May 1999; i ...

Nice Treaty The Treaty of Nice was signed by European leaders on 26 February 2001 and came into force on 1 February 2003. It amended the Maastricht Treaty (or the Treaty on European Union) and the Treaty of Rome (or the Treaty establishing the European Co ...

, Nice Treaty re-run and the

Lisbon Treaty The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member sta ...

. He made contributions to the post-

debate and made submissions to the Oireachtas Committee on Europe on behalf of the National Platform.

Early life and education

Born in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, he became politicised while studying English, history and economics at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

in the 1950s, setting up a branch of the Labour Party in the college. He moved to London where he studied for a postgraduate degree in Social Policy at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. In London he joined the

Connolly Association The Connolly Association is an organisation based among Irish emigrants in Britain which supports the aims of Irish republicanism. It takes its name from James Connolly, a socialist republican, born in Edinburgh, Scotland and executed by the British ...

, and befriended the republican socialist

C. Desmond Greaves Charles Desmond Greaves (27 September 1913 – 23 August 1988) was an English Marxist activist and historian. He wrote a number of books on Irish history as a Marxist historian. A member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, through the Connol ...

Career

He returned to Ireland in 1961 and began lecturing at Trinity College Dublin. He became involved in the

Wolfe Tone Society ) , former name = , image = File:Portrait of Theobald Wolfe Tone.PNG , alt = , caption = Wolfe Tone, 20 June 1763 – 19 November 1798 , map = , msize = , malt = , mcaption = , ...

when it was set up in 1964 acting as its secretary as well as the Dublin Housing Action Committees, both of which were heavily populated by members of the Republican Movement most of which evolved into

Sinn Féin the Workers Party The Workers' Party ( ga, Páirtí na nOibrithe) is a Marxist–Leninist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It arose as the original Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, but took ...

. The Wolfe Tone Society campaigned for civil rights in Northern Ireland and supported the

NICRA ) was an organisation that campaigned for civil rights in Northern Ireland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Formed in Belfast on 9 April 1967,

. Coughlan was editor of , the paper of the Wolfe Tone Society; he was offered the editorship of the ''

United Irishman ''The United Irishman'' was an Irish nationalist newspaper co-founded by Arthur Griffith and William Rooney.Arthur Griffith ...

'', but refused it. He left the Republican Movement in 1970, he was joint secretary with

Raymond Crotty Raymond Dominick Crotty (22 January 1925 – 1 January 1994) was an Irish economist, writer, academic and farmer, who was known for his opposition to Ireland's membership of the European Union. In 1987, he mounted a successful legal challenge in ...

of the ''Common Market Defence Campaign'', he participated in the ''Common Market Study Group'' and campaigned against Ireland joining the

Common Market The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

and has campaigned against greater European integration policies through various organisations since such as the

Irish Sovereignty Movement The Irish Sovereignty Movement was a political lobby group in the 1970s and 1980s fronted by Anthony Coughlan who was its chairman. It held meetings and produced publications campaigning on various political issues mainly to do with Irish Independe ...

and

, both of which he led. Coughlan married Muriel Sadlier in 1983.Mac Carthaigh, Sean
"Anthony Coughlan : He is no Yes-man"
. ''

The Sunday Business Post The ''Business Post'' (formerly ''The Sunday Business Post'') is a Sunday newspaper distributed nationally in Ireland and an online publication. It is focused mainly on business and financial issues in Ireland. Founding to Irish financial crisi ...

'', Sunday, 25 August 2002.

Submissions and articles

Tackling the EU Empire: Basic Critical Facts on the EU/Eurozone
by Anthony Coughlan, November, 2015
Turning us into real EU citizens
by Anthony Coughlan,

Munster Express ''The Munster Express'' newspaper was established in 1860 in the South-East Region, Ireland, South Eastern Irish city of Waterford. The newspaper covers stories from Waterford city and County Waterford. It retails at €2.00. ''The Munster Expr ...

, Friday, 13 June 2008
An EU Watershed Decision
by Anthony Coughlan, Peoples Movement website
Nation, State Sovereignty and the European Union
by Anthony Coughlan, Studies An Irish Quarterly Review Issue 369, vol.93, Spring 2004

- Roy Johnston / Anthony Coughlan.
Archive of Publications by Anthony Coughlan, Open Library
*''The Case Against the Common Market'', a pamphlet by Anthony Coughlan and

Roy Johnston Roy H. W. Johnston (11 November 1929 – 13 December 2019) was an Irish theoretical physicist and republican political activist. He was a Marxist who as a member of the IRA in the 1960s argued for a ''National Liberation Strategy'' to unite the C ...

(1967)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coughlan, Anthony Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of University College Cork Alumni of the University of London People from County Cork Academics of Trinity College Dublin Anti-Revisionism (Ireland)