Coughlin

Fionn Coughlin, generally known as Coughlin or Cogs, is an Arcean politician. He serves as Executive Administrator through most of the Long Peace. Domestically, he is best known for his commitments to younger Arceans. Abroad, while Coughlin did not commit Arcea to its campaign in the former UHR, he committed his administration to completing the project of re-unifying the war torn area.

## Early Life

### Childhood

Coughlin was born in Knockvicar, Rostef, in 1779, the youngest of eight children. A small town North-East of Revinswright, Knockvicar had largely relied on Estate Farms prior to the Civil War. After the Estate Farming system was ended by the new Aequalist government, the towns now freed people largely moved to the city. Coughlins family stayed planted however, and took on the daunting task of trying to implement the new Council Farming system promoted by the government. Born in this context, Coughlin was raised seeing the trails and tribulations of the early Republic, especially in rural communities where the Revolutions benefits could often be slow to manifest.

### Education

Coughlin would become the third member of his family to leave home and attain a higher education, attending Collegiate of Maybole-Upon-The-Coast in 1796. It was there he became famous for his debating and oratory skills. He also became an outspoken defender of Acard in a time when her record was being increasingly questioned. This garnered the attention of the Rostefian Cooperativists, but he rejected affiliating with them officially at the time.

During his time in university, he would also meet his future wife Gaëlle Duriviere. An upper year student, who graduated two years before Coughlin, she would ultimately invite him to intern in her law office. Coughlin credits this with his decision to take on a career as a lawyer.

### Legal Career

Duriviere and Coughlin ultimately relocated to Revinswright after Coughlin's graduation, the area having little professional legal assistance. The two became a noteworthy duo, specializing in defending unions and cooperatives against Rostef's Orthodox Aeuqlist Administration. The two would enter national headlines during the Great War however.

In 1802 Arash Scirebrocs Grand Coalition attempted to install minimum work quotas. Duriviere and Coughlin began planning a case against Scirebrocs's administration as soon as the policy was announced. Things came to a head when the Rostefian Federation of Miners refused to comply with the new ANLU mandated quotas and went on strike. Scirebrocs ANLU attempted to force the striking miners back to work. Duriviere and Coughlin were called upon by the miners to defend them. Coughlin spent the next few months rallying support for the miners nationally, ultimately resulting in the first general strike against the ANLU in Arcean history. Before the case could go to court, much of Scirebrocs supporters within the People's Stadium abandoned him, forcing the now unpopular Executive Administrator to back down.

## Politics

### RsNLU

After his success in facing off Arash and the ANLU, Coughlin was elected as the Representative for Rostefian Legal Support Workers within the RsNLU in 1803. He joined the Cooperativist wing of the RsNLU which sat in opposition to the Orthodox Aeuqalist Majority. In 1809, he was raised to the Shadow Administration, becoming a prominent voice within Rostefian politics, regularly challenging the State Administrators. He became known for his use of comedy to berate his opponents, his insults often making national headlines. In 1815, the Cooperativists gained control of the RsNLU from the Orthodox Aeuqalists, and Coughlin was brought into the Administration as the Coordination Administrator.

### ANLU

Coughlin joined the Cooperativists in the ANLU in 1825 and was immediately promoted to the Cooperativists Shadow Administration there. He resumed his role as a popular critic of the current administration, this time headed by Techno Fracisque Nullan. He would most notably be involved in the Pragmatist lead 'Wire and Rail' initiative, which aimed to tie many of the rural communities lacking modern infrastructure back into Arcea's modernizing infrastructure. Coughlin also became increasingly critical of how difficult it was becoming for young people to create new Cooperatives and Federations, with the existing organizations often using their large membership to squeeze them out.

In early 1829, Coughlin announced that he would run to be Cooperativst Chair, running against longtime holder Gurgen Rocker. Coughlin would ultimately defeat the long time representative. In the 1829 elections, he defeated Nullan handedly. In both cases, a surge of youth voting propelled Coughlin to victory. He would go on to create the youngest administration in Arcea since Acards.

## The Long Peace

Unlike his Pragmatist rivals, Coughlin prefers an activist foreign policy. He vocally opposes maintaining the status quo unless absolutely necessary. This has brought Arcea into conflict with the Karelia over the future of Ephesus, South Arcea over the fate of the former UHR, and the Enshaw thanks to Arcea's support of ever more radical politcs within the ESNLU. Coughlin's criticism of orthodox Aequalist has put him in conflict with the UWS, and he continued to push for Aequalist organizations internationally to work through the INLU instead of going it alone. Coughlin has generally supported shifting away from supporting governments that allow INLU aligned unions to exist within their borders, and to instead support those unions in opposition against non-Aequalist states. This has also caused a stir in nations such as Estille, Koprusia, and other middle powers.

While Coughlin ostensibly supports the split between Arcea's Sections 4 and 5, he has been known as a strong supporter of the ANLU's intelligence apparatus. Conversely, Coughlin has not been keen on answering the question of the Intermediate Army. That being side, the problem of modernizing the Arcean military is likely unavoidable.