Tom Gildea
Tom Gildea | |
|---|---|
| Teachta Dála | |
| In office June 1997 – May 2002 | |
| Constituency | Donegal South-West |
| Donegal County Councillor | |
| In office June 1999 – June 2004 | |
| Constituency | Glenties |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 1939 (age 86) County Donegal, Ireland |
| Party | Independent |
| Spouse | Eilish Hegarty |
| Children | 1 |
Thomas Gildea (born September 1939) is an Irish former politician who was elected as an independent Teachta Dála (TD) at the 1997 general election.[1]
A farmer representing Donegal South-West, he won popular local support for his ultimately successful campaign to legalise 'deflectors' which re-transmitted British television channels in rural areas, but which had been shut down in the wake of legal action by cable and MMDS operators.[2][3] He supported the Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats minority coalition government from 1997 to 2002.[4] Gildea himself operated a deflector system in Donegal.
In the 1999 local elections, he was elected as a member of Donegal County Council for Glenties.[5] He did not contest the 2002 general election and retired from politics at the 2004 local elections.[5]
He was later Chairman of the National Community Television Association.
In July 2000, he married Eilish Hegarty.[6] They have one child.[4]
References
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- ^ There have been other notable single issue 'deflector' candidates who ran unsuccessfully in general elections elsewhere in the country — Dermot Kirwan representing the Waterford deflector groups ran in Waterford at the 1997 general election, while the 1992 general election saw Liam Hurley of South Coast Community TV standing in the Cork South-Central constituency.
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