Joe Cahill (1920 - July 23 2004) was a controversial Irish politician and former member of the Irish Republican Army. Although regarded as a terrorist outside Irish Republican circles, many within that community considered him a hero.

Born in Belfast, he spent much of his life fighting against British rule in Northern Ireland. He was sentenced to death for the murder of a catholic policeman in the 1940s, but had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment after the Pope intervened. He was released in the 1950s and also served jail time in 1973 on gun running charges after being convicted of importing weapons from Libya.

In 1969, he was a key figure in founding the Provisional IRA and was the Belfast commander before becoming the IRA's chief of staff, serving on the Army Council as late as the 1990's.

In his later years as honorary life vice president of Sinn Féin he was a strong supporter of Gerry Adams and the Good Friday Agreement. In 1994 a controversial but central aspect of the IRA September ceasefire was the granting of a Visa by then US President Clinton to Mr Cahill, in the face of opposition by the British authorities. This was to facilitate a trip to the United States to explain the strategy to supporters.

Further reading

• Anderson, Brendan. Joe Cahill: a life in the IRA. Dublin : O'Brien, 2002.