Noel Rock

Noel Rock (born 11 November 1987) is a former Irish Fine Gael politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North-West constituency from 2016 to 2020.[1]

Noel Rock
Teachta Dála
In office
February 2016 – February 2020
ConstituencyDublin North-West
Personal details
Born (1987-11-11) 11 November 1987
Ballymun, Dublin, Ireland
NationalityIrish
Political partyFine Gael
Alma materDublin City University
Websitenoelrock.ie

Early life and career

Rock was born in Dublin and grew up in the Ballymun and Glasnevin areas, where he was raised by his mother and grandparents.[2] He was educated at Our Lady of Victories National Boys' School, Ballymun and St. Aidan's CBS in Whitehall. He graduated from Dublin City University, where he was the chair of the university's branch of Young Fine Gael.[3] He remains an active member of Young Fine Gael.

While studying at DCU, Rock interned with then US Senator Hillary Clinton as a legislative intern focusing on foreign policy. He later interned in Iowa with her 2008 Presidential campaign ahead of the Iowa Caucuses. He welcomed Clinton to DCU for a speech in 2012. He has also worked as an assistant manager for the Washington-Ireland Program and as a press assistant with the European Parliament. Following his graduation from DCU he worked in communications for a startup cloud computing company.

Rock first ran for a seat on the Dublin City Council in 2009, and was the last candidate deemed to not be elected in his LEA. In 2011, he was a campaign organiser for John Paul Phelan, which successfully sought to elect Phelan to Dáil Éireann for Carlow–Kilkenny, where he topped the poll. Rock has also worked as a secretarial assistant for Catherine Noone, a Senator on the Industrial and Commercial Panel.

Dublin City Council

After unsuccessfully contesting the Ballymun LEA at the 2009 local election, Rock once more ran for the seat at the 2014 local elections. Despite a poor showing by Fine Gael nationwide, Rock won election to Dublin City Council and took the third seat in a seven-seat constituency.[4] During the 2014 local elections, Rock made a "No Expense Pledge" where he would not take the €36,000 allowance given to councillors.[5]

Dáil Éireann

Rock was elected to the Dáil at the 2016 general election.[6] He represented the Dublin North-West constituency. While serving as a TD, Rock has emphasized local projects to improve transportation, including the expansion of the LUAS and adding bus routes.[7] Rock proposed a bill to end ticket touting in 2019.[8] In 2016, Rock encouraged the Irish government to increase the minimum wage by more than the 10-cent raise recommended by the non-partisan Low Pay Commission.[9] The minimum wage was increased by 30 cent the next year.

Following a redrawing of Dublin North-West, Rock lost his seat at the general election in February 2020. He was an unsuccessful candidate at the 2020 Seanad election.

References
  1. "Noel Rock". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  2. "About Noel". Noel Rock. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  3. "DCU Young Fine Gael Committee". Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  4. "Noel Rock". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  5. "My No Expenses Pledge". Noel Rock. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  6. "Election 2016: Noel Rock". RTÉ News. 28 February 2016.
  7. "Running for a Second Term". Noel Rock. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  8. "Fast-tracked: Ticket touting law to ban above-face-value resales to come before the Dail next week". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  9. "Dublin TD Noel Rock warns 10 cent minimum wage increase isn't enough". DublinLive. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
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