Thomas Joseph Maher (29 April 1922 – 19 April 2002) was an Irish politician and farmers' leader. He was born on a small farm near Cashel,

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

in 1922, the seventh child of Thomas Maher, a farmer, and his wife Julianne Maher. He was educated locally and became a member of

Macra na Feirme Macra na Feirme (; officially meaning "Stalwarts of the land") is an Irish voluntary rural youth organisation. The organisation provides a social outlet for members in sport, travel, public speaking, performing arts, community involvement and agr ...

. He was a founder member of ''National Farmers' Association'' (later the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA)) in 1955. In 1958, he married Elizabeth Kennedy from Bansha, near Cashel. They lived at Castlemoyle and had one daughter and two sons. He became the President of the IFA in 1967. In 1977 he became president of the

Irish Co-operative Organisation Society The Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) is a co-operative organisation in Ireland. With its roots in the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society, ICOS promotes commercial co-operative businesses and enterprise, across multiple section ...

(ICOS). He was first elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

at the 1979 European election for the

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

constituency as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

and was re-elected at the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

and

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

elections. In the European Parliament, he was a member of the Liberal Democrat and Reform group. He stood unsuccessfully as an independent candidate at the 1981 general election in the Tipperary South constituency. He retired from politics at the 1994 European election. He was awarded an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

by the University of Limerick in 1997.

References

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maher, TJ 1922 births 2002 deaths Irish agrarianists 20th-century Irish farmers Politicians from County Tipperary MEPs for the Republic of Ireland 1989–1994 MEPs for the Republic of Ireland 1984–1989 MEPs for the Republic of Ireland 1979–1984 Independent MEPs for Ireland People from Cashel, County Tipperary