Liam Ahern (12 January 1916 – 13 July 1974), also known as William Ahern, was an Irish

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...

politician who served in both Dáil Éireann and

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann (, ; "Senate of Ireland") is the upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (the lower house). It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its memb ...

Early and personal life

Ahern's father, Eamon Ahern (1882–1953), was a member of

Cork County Council Cork County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Chorcaí) is the authority responsible for local government in County Cork, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and ...

from 1919 to 1953. He was a member of the

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

and the IRB. On Eamons' death, Liam was co-opted onto the council. Ahern's uncle, John Dinneen, was also a member of the Dáil between 1922 and 1927. Liam's uncle, Maurice Ahern (1899–1950), was captain of the East Cork 4th Battalion Number One Brigade of the IRA. In 1916, he led members of the

Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers ( ga, Óglaigh na hÉireann), sometimes called the Irish Volunteer Force or Irish Volunteer Army, was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists and republicans. It was ostensibly formed in respon ...

from Dungourney, Clonmult and Ballynoe, under arms to Cork, and in the subsequent struggle was interned in Wakefield, Wandsworth and Frongoch prisons. Later, in Cork Prison, Maurice Ahern was the first man to go on hunger strike. Liams' son Michael Ahern was a Fianna Fáil TD for Cork East from 1982 to 2011. Another son, auctioneer Maurice Ahern was a long-standing Fianna Fáil councillor for the Midleton electoral area of Cork County Council from 1979 to 2009. Liam's grand-daughter Ann-Marie Ahern was co-opted by Fianna Fail to Cork County Council in 2020.

Political career

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer m ...

and agricultural contractor, Ahern was first elected to the 9th Seanad in 1957 on the

Labour Panel The Labour Panel ( ga, An Rolla Oibreachais) is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Labour Panel elects eleven senators. ...

. In 1961 he was returned to the 10th Seanad on the

Administrative Panel The Administrative Panel () is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Administrative Panel elects seven senators. Election ...

, and re-elected by the same panel to the 11th Seanad in 1965. At the 1969 general election, he stood for election to the

19th Dáil 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics 19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full re ...

in the Cork North-East constituency, but was narrowly beaten by his Fianna Fáil colleague

Seán Brosnan Seán Brosnan (21 December 1916 – 18 April 1979) was an Irish barrister and Fianna Fáil politician. He served for 10 years in the Oireachtas, as a Teachta Dála (TD) and as a senator. Brosnan was a native of Dingle, County Kerry. He was ...

. After his defeat, Ahern was returned to the 12th Seanad by the Administrative Panel. At the 1973 general election, he again contested Cork North-East, where he came fourth out of the four successful candidates, unseating the sitting Fianna Fáil TD

. A

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

– Labour Party coalition government under

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the o ...

Liam Cosgrave took power at that election, ending a sixteen-year period of

government, and Ahern found himself in opposition for the first time in his career in the Oireachtas. He caused a minor sensation during the Dáil debate on the seizure of IRA arms on the MV ''Claudia'' in May 1973 when he shouted out, "More guns we want, bags of guns." He died in July 1974 at the age of 58, triggering a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

on 13 November 1974 in which his seat was retained for Fianna Fáil by Seán Brosnan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahern, Liam 1916 births 1974 deaths Fianna Fáil TDs Members of the 9th Seanad Members of the 10th Seanad Members of the 11th Seanad Members of the 12th Seanad Members of the 20th Dáil Irish farmers Fianna Fáil senators

Early and personal life

Political career

See also

References