Holly Cairns

Holly Cairns TD
Cairns in 2023
Leader of the Social Democrats
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 March 2023
Deputy	Cian O'Callaghan
Preceded by	Róisín Shortall Catherine Murphy
Teachta Dála
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 February 2020
Constituency	Cork South-West
Personal details
Born	Holly McKeever Cairns (1989-11-04) 4 November 1989 (age 35) Cork, Ireland
Political party	Social Democrats
Domestic partner	Barry Looney
Children	1[1]
Education	University College Cork

Holly McKeever Cairns (born 4 November 1989) is an Irish politician. She has been the leader of the Social Democrats party since March 2023. She has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for Cork South-West since 2020.^[2][3] She was a member of Cork County Council for the Bantry local electoral area from 2019 to 2020.

Cairns was born in Cork and worked on her family farm which made organic seeds. She volunteered in many charity organisations in Malta and Romania before starting her political career in Ireland. She became active in politics because she supported LGBT rights and abortion rights. She joined the Social Democrats in 2018.

Cairns ran in the 2020 general election as a candidate in the Cork South West constituency. During her time in the Dáil Éireann, she focused on the agricultural businesses of Cork.^[4][5] As a TD, Cairns is known for criticizing the government of Taoiseach Micheál Martin. She did not support the government's response to the Commission of Investigation Records about Mother and Baby Homes not releasing personal data to victims.

In March 2023, Cairns became leader of Social Democrats, replacing Róisín Shortall and Catherine Murphy. During her time as leader, she has shown support for Palestine while criticizing the Irish government and European Union for their support of Israel. She has also refused to merge the Social Democrats with the Labour Party. Cairns supports solutions to fight climate change and homelessness in Ireland. Cairns led the party through the 2024 general election, in which the party gained seats in the Dáil Éireann.

1. ↑ "Leader of Ireland's Social Democrats gives birth to baby girl on polling day". amp.theguardian.com. Retrieved 2024-12-01.
2. ↑ "Holly Cairns". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
3. ↑ Baker, Noel (May 29, 2019). "First-timer McKeever Cairns takes seat after recount marathon". The Examiner. Ireland. Archived from the original on 29 May 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
4. ↑ Cite error: The named reference fish was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
5. ↑ Cite error: The named reference dairy was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).