Tom Fleming (Irish politician)

Tom Fleming
Teachta Dála
In office February 2011 – February 2016
Constituency	Kerry South
Personal details
Born	(1951-02-20) 20 February 1951 (age 73) Cork, Ireland
Political party	Independent
Other political affiliations	Fianna Fáil (until 2011)
Spouse	Lena Fleming
Children	3

Tom Fleming (born February 1951) is an Irish former independent politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kerry South constituency from 2011 to 2016.[1]

Fleming is a former Fianna Fáil member of Kerry County Council, and was co-opted to the council before the 1985 local elections, as a Fianna Fáil Councillor for the Killarney local electoral area, following the death of his father.[2] He retained his seat at the 1999, 2004 and 2009 local elections.[2] He was an unsuccessful Fianna Fáil candidate for Kerry South at the 2002 and 2007 general elections.[2]

He and fellow councillor Michael Cahill left Fianna Fáil on 12 January 2011.[2][3] He contested the Kerry South constituency at the 2011 general election as an independent candidate, winning a seat.[2] He was part of the Dáil Technical group which gives independents and minor parties more speaking time in Dáil debates.[4]

Fleming was the fourth generation of his family to serve on Kerry County Council.[5]

He was a member of the Independent Alliance.[6] On 5 February 2016, he announced that he would not be contesting the 2016 general election.[7]

References

1. "Tom Fleming". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
2. "Tom Fleming". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
3. "'I have touched positively every home of every parish'". Irish Examiner. 9 February 2011. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013.
4. "TDs agree to form technical group". The Irish Times. 9 March 2011.
5. O'Shea, Owen (2011). Heirs to the kingdom : Kerry's political dynasties. Dublin: The O'Brien Press. ISBN 9781847172280.
6. "Feargal Quinn to announce he is to join Independent Alliance". The Irish Times. 29 June 2015.
7. "Tom Fleming pulls out of General Election race". Radio Kerry. 5 February 2016. Archived from the original on 6 February 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2016.