Thomas Gildea (born September 1939) is a former Irish TD, who was elected as an independent candidate in the 1997 general election.
A farmer representing Donegal South West, he won popular local support for his campaign to legalise 'deflectors' which retransmitted British television channels in rural areas, but which had been shut down in the wake of legal action by cable and MMDS operators. (There have been other notable single issue 'deflector' candidates who unsuccessfully ran in general elections elsewhere in the country—Dermot Kirwan representing Waterford deflector groups ran in Waterford also for the 1997 General Election, whilst the 1992 general election had Liam Hurley of South Coast Community TV standing in the Cork South Central constituency)
In the June 1999 local elections, he was elected as a member of Donegal County Council, for Glenties. He did not contest the 2002 general election and had retired from politics by the 2004 local elections.
He was later Chairman of the National Community Television Association.