Thomas Pringle

Thomas Pringle (born 30 August 1967) is an Irish independent politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Donegal constituency since the 2016 general election, and previously from 2011 to 2016 for the Donegal South-West constituency. Early life Pringle was born into an Irish Republican family. His father, Peter, was a supporter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party, and was convicted of the killing of two members of the Gardaí in 1980, a conviction that was subsequently declared as unsafe, although it has not been certified as a miscarriage of justice. He is a patron of the People's Movement, which campaigned against the Lisbon Treaty. He previously worked for Donegal County Council, where he managed a water treatment plant and was a shop steward. Pringle is married and has three children. Pringle was previously a member of Donegal County Council, having been elected as an independent member in 1999, and then as a Sinn Féin candidate in 2004. He left Sinn Féin in 2007, and retained his seat as an independent in 2009. Dáil Éireann (2011–present) Pringle was elected as a TD for the Donegal South-West constituency at the 2011 general election, unseating the incumbent Tánaiste Mary Coughlan. He quickly became an ally of Luke 'Ming' Flanagan, elected as an independent TD at the same time as Pringle, but for the Roscommon–South Leitrim constituency. Flanagan and Pringle would go on to support each other on many issues, including reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and opposition to the MERCOSUR deal. Even when Flanagan was elected as an MEP for the Midlands–North-West constituency after spending three years in the Dáil, himself and Pringle continued to work together, and Flanagan visited Donegal to canvass for Pringle ahead of the 2020 general election.