Obituary: Cathal MacLiam, activist who helped ensure Irish voters had a bigger say on European issues

Irish Independent

20-07-2025

A strong supporter of the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland and active campaigner against the apartheid regime in South Africa, he also helped to ensure Irish voters got a greater say on European political issues.
MacLiam was born on Christmas Eve, 1931, in Galway city to Charles ­Wilson and Elizabeth (nee Goulding), both from Dublin. Originally given his father's name, he opted for the Irish-language version at an early stage.
He attended a Christian Brothers national school, but his parents were unhappy with the corporal punishment he suffered and secured early admission to the Jesuit school Coláiste Iognáid/St Ignatius College.
He later became a medical student at University College Galway, but dropped out after a year, moving to Liverpool and later London.
Jobs he held included ­laboratory work at Birkbeck College, part of the University of London. At his 23rd birthday party in London in 1954, he met and fell in love with Helga Boehmer, a German physiotherapist. They married in 1955, and had five children.
He was a firm friend of political activist and historian Desmond Greaves. Both were key figures in the Connolly Association in London and used its newspaper, The Irish Democrat, to promote the rights of the Irish ­immigrant community as well as urging British Labour politicians and trade unionists to get involved in the Northern Ireland situation.
MacLiam returned in 1956 to an Ireland caught up in an employment and emigration crisis, but managed to secure a position in the developing telecommunications sector.
He and Helga lived in Finglas, north Dublin, before moving permanently to Rathmines. He later became an official in Liberty Hall with the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU, which later merged with another union into Siptu).
Cathal MacLiam worked closely on political issues in Dublin with scientist and activist Roy Johnston, and they had many discussions with the 'official' wing of the republican movement, led by Cathal Goulding ­ (a first cousin of MacLiam) and Tomás Mac Giolla, both of whom took a more political approach than the Provisionals at the time.
MacLiam was chairman and secretary of the Wolfe Tone Society, which he and Johnston were involved in founding. When Ireland joined the EEC, he became active in the Irish Sovereignty Movement, with Trinity College lecturer Anthony Coughlan, in seeking to protect Ireland's independence within the common market.
MacLiam played an active role in the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement
They were strong supporters of the Crotty case, as it was called, taken in 1986-87 by agricultural economist Raymond Crotty, which sought a referendum on the Single European Act (SEA), aimed at creating a single ­internal market throughout the EEC.
The Supreme Court found in ­Crotty's favour and a referendum took place on May 26, 1987. As a result of the Crotty case, major European treaties since then have to be put to the Irish people by way of referendum.
MacLiam and his associates also supported court actions taken by political activist Patricia McKenna, which ultimately resulted in a Supreme Court decision that public money could not be used in a partisan way in a constitutional referendum.
MacLiam played an active role in the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement, which organised a major protest in January 1970 against the visit of the South African rugby team that played against Ireland at Lansdowne Road.
Having been in poor health for some time, Cathal MacLiam died peacefully at home on July 14.
Helga MacLiam died in August 2016. In accordance with their wishes, their bodies have been donated to the School of Anatomy in the UCD Medical Department. A memorial occasion celebrating his life will be held later.
Cathal MacLiam is survived by his sisters Joanna and Cecily, and his five children: twins Fionnula and Egon, Conor, Bébhinn and Kilian, as well as four grandchildren.