'Speeds in excess of 190km/h': Kerry TD found guilty of dangerous driving in Cork 

Kerry TD Michael Cahill at Fermoy court. Picture: Noel Sweeney

A TD has been disqualified for two years and fined €500 after being found guilty of dangerous driving on his way to a public event.

Michael Cahill, of Rossbeigh, Glenbeigh, Co Kerry, overtook an unmarked garda car and was later observed driving “at speeds in excess of 190km/h and very close to 200km/h” while travelling southbound on the M8 near Mitchelstown.

Fermoy District Court, sitting in front of Judge Colm Roberts, heard Garda Peter O’Loughlin recalled how he saw Mr Cahill’s brown Audi Q5 overtake him and then drive “extremely” close and “aggressively” behind a van in the overtaking lane on March 13 last year.

Garda O’Loughlin said Mr Cahill’s SUV “overtook me at high speed and came up behind a van aggressively”.

He said Mr Cahill was so close that the driver of the van pulled into the inside lane to let Mr Cahill pass.

“He came up extremely close behind and practically forced him into the lane,” he said.

The Fianna Fáil deputy, who was on his way to an event he had organised at a special school in his Kerry constituency, attended the hearing and was represented by solicitor Ciaran O’Keeffe.

Informed that Mr Cahill is a public representative, Judge Roberts asked “what did he think he was representing” on the day he was caught driving dangerously.

Addressing the issue of speed, Judge Roberts said: “Speed kills and he will have heard that his own constituents are dying as a result of speed.

“He should be aware that the number of deaths on the road is going up. The lack of lane discipline is frightening.” 

He said he does not drive dangerously himself because he is a judge and “we have to show good example, like parliamentarians”.

Mr O’Keeffe said Mr Cahill accepts the evidence against him, saying “he misjudged it as he had to go to an event in Kerry”.

But he also said that it would be his duty as a solicitor to challenge the evidence as it was uncorroborated, because the garda was the only person in the Garda car.

Judge Roberts said: “The difficulty for your client is that you are dealing with an experienced member of the gardaí, and someone who is not regarded as a zealot.

“He always gives very fair evidence on people and it’s always very measured.

“His evidence today was measured.” 

He said that given the consequences for Mr Cahill for his actions and the potential consequences to other road users, “he should have thought about [them] before he turned on his engine”.

When Mr O’Keeffe referenced his client as driving in “the fast lane”, the judge interrupted him, and said: “You see one of the failures here is it’s not the fast lane.

“It’s the overtaking lane.

“Everybody thinks it’s the racing lane and that’s what causes deaths.” 

After convicting him and disqualifying him for two years, the judge said the evidence against Mr Cahill was “compelling”.

Afterwards, Mr Cahill told reporters: “I am sorry this has happened. I know better, but things just went against me on the day.

“I am apologising and I have apologised. My wife and children are annoyed with me for being here at all and I am embarrassed.” 

Asked if he planned to appeal, he said he would discuss that with his solicitor.

Mr Cahill has been a TD since 2024.