The Social Democrats are a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Ireland. Led by Holly Cairns, the party was launched on 15 July 2015 by three independent TDs, Catherine Murphy, and Róisín Shortall, and Stephen Donnelly. It promotes the Nordic model and pro-European views.

Holly Cairns, also known as Holly McKeever Cairns, is an Irish politician who has been Leader of the Social Democrats since March 2023. She has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for Cork South-West since the 2020 general election. She was a member of Cork County Council for the Bantry local electoral area from 2019 to 2020.