Darren O'Rourke (born 1979/1980) is an Irish

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

politician who has been a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( ; ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...

(TD) for the

Meath East County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

constituency since the 2020 general election.

Background

Originally from Kells, O'Rourke trained in

Dublin Institute of Technology Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT, ) was a major third-level institution in Dublin, Ireland. On 1 January 2019 DIT was dissolved and its functions were transferred to the Technological University Dublin, as TU Dublin City Campus. The insti ...

and holds a number of master's degrees from

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

and the

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is a not-for-profit medical professional and educational institution, which is also known as RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences. It was established in 1784 as the national body ...

. He was a medical scientist at

St. James's Hospital St. James's Hospital ''Confirms spelling of name as "James's" and Irish name'' () is a teaching hospital in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Its academic partner is Trinity College Dublin. It is managed by Dublin Midlands Hospital Group. ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Political career

O'Rourke was previously a policy advisor to

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (; born 18 September 1953) is an Irish former Sinn Féin politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cavan–Monaghan (Dáil constituency), Cavan–Monaghan constituency from 1997 to 2020. Ó Caoláin's victory ...

TD. He was the Sinn Féin candidate at the 2013 Meath East by-election, which was won by

Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a member ...

Helen McEntee Helen McEntee (born 8 June 1986) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Minister for Education and Youth since January 2025 and Leader of Fine Gael#Deputy leaders, deputy leader of Fine Gael since October 2024. A Teachta Dála (TD) ...

. He was unsuccessful again at the 2016 general election, but at the 2020 general election he topped the poll with 24.4% of the

first-preference votes A first-preference is a voter's most-preferred candidate. In certain ranked systems such as first preference plurality, ranked-choice voting (RCV), and the single transferable vote, first preferences for a candidate are considered most important ...

, and was elected on the second count. He was a member of

Meath County Council Meath County Council () is the local authority of County Meath, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning and de ...

for the Ashbourne local electoral area from 2014 to 2020. Aisling Ó Néill was co-opted to O'Rourke's seat on

following his election to the Dáil. 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.

References

External links

Darren O'Rourke's page on the Sinn Féin website
{{DEFAULTSORT:ORourke, Darren Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Alumni of Dublin Business School Alumni of Dublin Institute of Technology Alumni of Maynooth University Alumni of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Members of Meath County Council Members of the 33rd Dáil Sinn Féin TDs (post-1923) Sinn Féin local councillors in the Republic of Ireland Members of the 34th Dáil