Tom Fleming (Irish politician)

{{short description|Irish former politician (b. 1951)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}

{{Use Hiberno-English|date=May 2021}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| image =

| office = Teachta Dála

| term_start = February 2011

| term_end = February 2016

| constituency = Kerry South

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1951|2|20|df=y}}

| birth_place = Cork, Ireland

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = Irish

| party = Independent

| otherparty = Fianna Fáil {{small|(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.{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Tom-Fleming.D.2011-03-09/|title=Tom Fleming|work=Oireachtas Members Database|access-date=29 June 2011}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?id=397|title=Tom Fleming|work=ElectionsIreland.org|accessdate=27 February 2011}} He retained his seat at the 1999, 2004 and 2009 local elections. He was an unsuccessful Fianna Fáil candidate for Kerry South at the 2002 and 2007 general elections.

He and fellow councillor Michael Cahill left Fianna Fáil on 12 January 2011.{{cite news|url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/election/analysis/i-have-touched-positively-every-home-of-every-parish-144662.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130126121508/http://www.irishexaminer.com/election/analysis/i-have-touched-positively-every-home-of-every-parish-144662.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 January 2013|title='I have touched positively every home of every parish'|work=Irish Examiner|date=9 February 2011}} He contested the Kerry South constituency at the 2011 general election as an independent candidate, winning a seat. He was part of the Dáil Technical group which gives independents and minor parties more speaking time in Dáil debates.{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0309/1224291667861.html|title=TDs agree to form technical group|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=9 March 2011}}

Fleming was the fourth generation of his family to serve on Kerry County Council.{{cite book|last1=O'Shea|first1=Owen|title=Heirs to the kingdom : Kerry's political dynasties|date=2011|publisher=The O'Brien Press|location=Dublin|isbn=9781847172280}}

He was a member of the Independent Alliance.{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/feargal-quinn-to-announce-he-is-to-join-independent-alliance-1.2266057|title=Feargal Quinn to announce he is to join Independent Alliance|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=29 June 2015}} On 5 February 2016, he announced that he would not be contesting the 2016 general election.{{cite news|url=http://www.radiokerry.ie/news/tom-fleming-pulls-out-of-general-election-race/|title=Tom Fleming pulls out of General Election race|publisher=Radio Kerry|date=5 February 2016|access-date=5 February 2016|archive-date=6 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160206060122/http://www.radiokerry.ie/news/tom-fleming-pulls-out-of-general-election-race/|url-status=dead}}