Clement Coughlan

{{Short description|Irish Fianna Fáil politician and teacher (1942–1983)}}

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{{Infobox officeholder

| image =

| office = Teachta Dála

| term_start = June 1981

| term_end = 1 February 1983

| constituency = Donegal South-West

| term_start1 = November 1980

| term_end1 = June 1981

| constituency1 = Donegal

| birth_date = {{birth date|1942|8|14|df=y}}

| birth_place = County Donegal, Ireland

| death_date = {{death date and age|1983|2|1|1942|8|14|df=y}}

| death_place = County Donegal, Ireland

| nationality = Irish

| party = Fianna Fáil

| education =

| alma_mater =

| spouse =

| children =

| relatives = {{ubl|Cathal Coughlan (brother)|Mary Coughlan (niece)}}

|}}

Clement Coughlan (14 August 1942 – 1 February 1983) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and school teacher from County Donegal.{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Clement-Coughlan.D.1980-11-06/|title=Clement Coughlan|work=Oireachtas Members Database|access-date=23 December 2012}} He was elected to Dáil Éireann in a 1980 by-election as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Donegal constituency.{{cite web|url=http://www.electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=3301|title=Clement Coughlan|work=ElectionsIreland.org|access-date=23 December 2012}} He only served in public office for two years before his death in a road traffic accident on 1 February 1983.

In a morbid twist his death and the timing of his funeral is considered to be the deciding factor in keeping Charles Haughey as leader of Fianna Fáil, when the support for the campaign to oust him dwindled following the funeral. Coughlan's brother, Cathal Coughlan, was elected in the subsequent by-election. His niece, Mary Coughlan was also a TD and Minister.

He also played at senior level for the Donegal county football team.{{fact|date=April 2021}}