Politically and socially conservative, Coughlan was frequently at odds with the rest of the Labour party, while his "colourful" behaviour often drew national attention.

[2][3] It is also claimed that one of Coughlan's final acts in the IRA was an unsuccessful attempt to prevent O'Duffy and his Irish Brigade departing for the Spanish Civil War by ship from Limerick.

[4] In December 1944, Charlie Kerins of Tralee, with whom Coughlan had developed a friendship, was executed for his role as a Chief of Staff of the IRA.

[5] In doing so Coughlan beat out former Clann party member, veteran campaigner and stalwart of Limerick politics Ted Russell.

As a new member of Labour, Coughlan joined an existing rural republican wing of the party that included the likes of Dan Spring, Sean Treacy and Thomas Kyne.

[4] In 1963, Coughlan helped bring former Clann na Poblachta comrade Noël Browne into the Labour party, an action he supposedly regretted the rest of his life.

[3] As a TD, instead of using the position to discuss national politics in Dáil Éireann, Coughlan's contributions in the 1960s were almost exclusively related to local Limerick issues.

It was in 1966 that Coughlan first began to clash with fellow Limerick Labour member Jim Kemmy, something that would go on to become a reoccurring feature of both men's careers.

Kemmy proved to be an energetic organiser and it didn't take him long to recruit 100 working-class locals as new branch members.

When Kemmy's group organised a press conference to announce some plans they had and to push for more members, Coughlan arrived at the press meeting flanked by a number of former Clann na Poblachta members, barred the doors to journalists, seized all printed materials and effectively shut the conference down.

[3] The incident prompted an internal investigation by Labour, who sent high profile members Brendan Corish and Michael O'Leary.

A public meeting was called between all involved, which saw Kemmy's faction of mainly urban Limerick members pitted against Coughlan's mostly rural supporters.

One anecdote recalls that in 1968, upon learning a Limerick mother was due to give birth to triplets, Coughlan rushed over to the hospital to be there.

During a debate in the Dáil in March 1971, Coughlan summed up his mentality by stating "If we resort to the despicable practices of contraception, divorce and abortion, we shall be finished as a nation.

"[6] Over the years when those issues would come up in the Dáil, Coughlan would find himself conspicuously absent when it came time to vote in order to avoid losing the party whip.

By 1969, the Labour party was experiencing a major upswing in the number of members interested in socialism as the political trend of the New Left swept across western countries.

This attracted a number of "intellectuals" to stand for the party as candidates, such as Justin Keating, Conor Cruise O'Brien, David Thornley and Noël Browne.

Jim Kemmy, himself a longstanding rugby fan as well as the chairman of a local anti-apartheid group, promised to organise opposition to the South Africans playing in Limerick.

[7] Coughlan took a similar line at first; in December 1969 he declared he would not meet with the South African team, but stated that he feared "revolutionary communist groups" would use the boycott as an excuse to "stir up trouble".

When Barry Desmond TD announced that Labour as a party would back the boycott, Coughlan was furious and declared "the damn cheek for this jumped up overnight politician to come to us in Limerick to tell us how to act".

With tensions in the city highly elevated due to the South African tour, this group quickly became a focus of anger.

He also accused his former running mate and fellow Labour member Tony Pratschke, a teacher at the school, of also being a communist and called for him to be sacked.

[3][7] In response to the article, Coughlan publicly declared that he was proud of what the Limerick people had done in those instances, and claimed his own parents had been involved.

[a] He defended the priest behind the boycott, stating "Fr Creagh, in a most courageous way, declared war on the Jews of Collooney Street" who had "been bleeding the working people of Limerick dry 70 years before".

[7] Sensing that his political career could be hanging by a thread, Coughlan delivered a public speech in Limerick where he called for a new Ireland under a liberal constitution.

[10] Despite their differences, many years after their '70s feud Jim Kemmy stated "I felt no bitterness towards Stevie Coughlan and I can recognise the good work he did.