Michael Cahill (Irish politician)

Michael Cahill
Cahill in 2024
Teachta Dála
Assumed office
November 2024
ConstituencyKerry
Personal details
Born1965/1966 (age 59–60)
County Kerry, Ireland
PartyFianna Fáil
(before 2011, since 2016)
Other political
affiliations
Independent (2011–2016)
SpouseBrenda Cahill
Children4

Michael Cahill (born 1965/1966)[1] is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has been a TD for the Kerry constituency since the 2024 general election.[2][3]

Biography

Cahill is from Rossbeigh on the Atlantic Ocean coast.[1]

He was a long serving councillor on Kerry County Council. He was a member of the council from 1991 to 2024 for the Killorglin and Kenmare areas.[4] His father, Tom Cahill, was also a Fianna Fáil councillor.[1]

He left Fianna Fáil in January 2011 and canvassed for Tom Fleming, who also left the party.[5] Fleming was elected as an independent TD, with Cahill acting as his parliamentary secretary for a while.[1] Cahill re-joined Fianna Fáil in 2016.[1] In the 2024 Kerry County Council election he was re-elected to Kerry County Council. Later that year he was also elected to Dáil Éireann in the general election on the final count without reaching the quota. His son, Tommy, a primary school teacher, was co-opted to the vacated council seat in December 2024, becoming the third generation of the family to serve on the council.[6]

In January 2026, Cahill was convicted of dangerous driving for driving at speeds in excess of 190 km/h (120 mph) on the M8 motorway. He was fined €500 and disqualified from driving for two years.[7] Following his conviction, Cahill resigned his position as a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration.[8] It later emerged that in 1993 he had been found liable by a court for causing a crash that left a young girl with "difficulty learning to walk".[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Kerry: Michael Cahill (FF)". The Irish Times. 1 December 2024. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  2. ^ "Michael Cahill". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  3. ^ "Kerry General Election 2024: Michael Cahill takes second seat for Fianna Fáil". Irish Independent. 1 December 2024. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  4. ^ "Michael Cahill". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  5. ^ "'I have touched positively every home of every parish'". Irish Examiner. 9 February 2011.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  6. ^ "Michael Cahill's son, Tommy, co-opted onto Kerry County Council". Radio Kerry. 16 December 2024.
  7. ^ Michael, Neil (16 January 2026). "'Speeds in excess of 190km/h': Kerry TD found guilty of dangerous driving in Cork". Irish Examiner.
  8. ^ Finn, Sophie (16 January 2026). "Fianna Fáil TD to leave Justice Committee after speeding conviction for driving 190km/h". TheJournal.ie.
  9. ^ "Girl had difficulty walking after crash caused by dangerous driving TD Michael Cahill". The Ditch. 19 January 2026.