Theresa Ahearn (née Scott; 1 May 1951 – 20 September 2000) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as a Teachta Dála for the Tipperary South constituency from 1989 to 2000.
Noted as a highly effective orator,[2] she was elected to the 26th Dáil as a Fine Gael TD for Tipperary South at the 1989 general election, becoming the only female Fine Gael deputy representing a rural constituency in the Dáil.
[4] She served as Fine Gael spokesperson on higher-education in 1991, at one time calling for the Dublin Institute of Technology to be granted the power to award their own degrees, stating "The colleges, in particular the DIT, at this stage rightly claim to have long experience of teaching to degree level...
[9][10] At the time of her death she was both a member of Fine Gael's National Executive Committee, and the first-ever female trustee of the party.
[3] In the by-election after death, her Dáil seat in Tipperary South was retained for Fine Gael by Tom Hayes of Kilfeakle.