Darren O'Rourke is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Meath East constituency at the 2020 general election.[1][2][3][4]

Darren O'Rourke
O'Rourke in 2021
Teachta Dála
Assumed office
February 2020
ConstituencyMeath East
Personal details
NationalityIrish
Political partySinn Féin
SpouseMaria O'Kane
Alma mater

Background edit

Originally from Kells, O'Rourke trained in Dublin Institute of Technology[5] and holds a number of master's degrees from Trinity College Dublin and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.[6] He was a medical scientist at St. James's Hospital in Dublin.[6]

Political career edit

O'Rourke was previously a policy advisor to Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD.[6] He was the Sinn Féin candidate at the 2013 Meath East by-election,[7] which was won by Fine Gael's Helen McEntee. He was unsuccessful again at the 2016 general election,[8] but at the 2020 general election he topped the poll with 24.37% of the first-preference votes, and was elected on the second count.[9]

He was a member of Meath County Council for the Ashbourne local electoral area from 2014 to 2020. Aisling Ó Néill was co-opted to O'Rourke's seat on Meath County Council following his election to the Dáil.[10]

In 2022, O'Rourke put forward a bill to require all pharmaceutical companies to make their payments to healthcare organisations and professionals public in a register.[11]

References edit

  1. ^ "Darren O'Rourke". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  2. ^ Bowers, Shauna (10 February 2020) [9 February 2020]. "Meath East results: SF tops the poll while FG's Regina Doherty loses seat; Minister for Social Protection comes in fifth in three-seater". The Irish Times. Dublin. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  3. ^ Bowers, Shauna (10 February 2020) [9 February 2020]. "Election 2020: Darren O'Rourke (Sinn Féin)". The Irish Times. Dublin. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  4. ^ "Election 2020: Meath East". The Irish Times. Dublin. 10 February 2020. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  5. ^ Bowers, Shauna. "Election 2020: Darren O'Rourke (Sinn Féin)". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  6. ^ a b c Bowers, Shauna (9 February 2020). "Election 2020: Darren O'Rourke (Sinn Féin)". Irish Times. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Darren O'Rourke". electionsireland.org. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  8. ^ "Meath East Results 2016". RTÉ. Archived from the original on 15 March 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  9. ^ "General Election 2020 Results – Meath East". RTÉ News. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  10. ^ Doyle, Simon (25 February 2020). "Three Sinn Féin members co-opted onto Louth and Meath County Councils". LMFM. Drogheda. Archived from the original on 13 September 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  11. ^ Taaffe-Maguire, Sarah. "New Bill seeks mandatory disclosure of payments from pharma companies to healthcare providers". Business Post. Retrieved 3 March 2022.

External links edit