Statement by President Michael D. Higgins on the death of Liam Cahill
Date: Tue 21st Jun, 2022 | 11:24
People throughout Irish media, politics and beyond will have been saddened to hear of the death of Liam Cahill.
The contribution Liam made to Irish society was a wide and varied one. It included his work, his research, and his writing as a journalist, historian, and as an adviser across political and public affairs.
To all of this he brought a well-informed, humorous and passionate spirit. To all of his many endeavours he brought, and has left, a particular personal legacy. His work in seeking to bring greater attention to the Limerick Soviet of 1919 reflected a particular interest in the cosmuintir, and the excluded or neglected. He presented a copy of his book on this to me in Áras an Uachtaráin.
I had the privilege of engaging with Liam many times over the years. Indeed, he was due to visit the Áras again in the coming weeks to present me with a copy of his most recent book, ‘From Suir to Jarama’, which shed light on the story of his cousin Mossie Quinlan, a volunteer in Spain with the British battalion of the International Brigade. It is a great sadness that we will not get the opportunity to have that meeting.
May I express my deepest sympathies to his daughter Susan, his son Eoin, to all of his wider family, and his many friends across the political spectrum.