Thomas Gildea (born September 1939) is an Irish former politician who was elected as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( ; ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...

(TD) at the 1997 general election. 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 Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

and

MMDS Multichannel multipoint distribution service (MMDS), formerly known as broadband radio service (BRS) and also known as wireless cable, is a wireless telecommunications technology, used for general-purpose broadband networking or, more commonly ...

operators. He supported the Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats minority coalition government from 1997 to 2002. 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. He did not contest the 2002 general election and retired from politics at the 2004 local elections. He was later Chairman of the National Community Television Association. In July 2000, he married Eilish Hegarty. They have one child.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gildea, Thomas 1939 births Living people Independent TDs 20th-century Irish farmers Members of Donegal County Council Members of the 28th Dáil People from Glenties Politicians from County Donegal Television in the Republic of Ireland