Chairperson of new Irish Freedom Party is contesting the general election in Tipperary

The Kilsheelan-born chairperson of a new political party with the goal of starting a national debate on the EU’s negative impacts on Ireland, is contesting the general election in Tipperary. 

Irish Freedom Party chairperson Prof. Dolores Cahill is one of 11 general election candidates the new party is fielding in constituencies around the country. The party has set up  a Co. Tipperary cumann. 

Prof. Cahill is Dublin based but comes from a farming family in the Kilsheelan area and was educated locally at Kilcash National School and Scoil Mhuire Greenhill Secondary School in Carrick-on-Suir. 

She is a professor at UCD's School of Medicine and served in a voluntary capacity on the Irish Government’s Advisory Science Council for 10 years. She also worked for the European  Commission's Research & Innovation Directorate in Brussels. She co-founded a biomedical company,  Protagen AG, in Germany, in 1997 and sold the firm last year.

She said the IFP wants to open up debate on what the party regards as the EU's  negative impacts on Ireland. She cites a diminution of sovereignty and neutrality; lack of accountability and democracy within EU governing structures; EU attempts to interfere with Ireland's right to fix taxes and the strain increased migration has put on Ireland's health, social and housing services as among the negative impacts. She is also highly critical of the European banking system and euro currency.       

Prior to the IFP's establishment last year, Prof. Cahill contested the 2019 European Elections in the South Ireland constituency as an independent. She polled 10,585 first preference votes and was the constituency's top performing Independent.

At a local level, Prof. Cahill is supporting the Irish Banking Forum’s campaign to  introduce community banks that  would lend to farmers and small businesses to assist with job creation. She says she is also developing a recovery plan for Tipperary focusing on increasing jobs and innovation in the county.