Sorca Clarke
Sorca Clarke | |
|---|---|
 Clarke in 2022 | |
| Teachta Dála | |
| Assumed office February 2020 | |
| Constituency | Longford–Westmeath |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1978 or 1979 (age 45–46)[1] Dublin,Ireland |
| Political party | Sinn Féin |
| Spouse | Darren Caulfield |
| Children | 4 |
Sorca Clarke(born 1978/1979) is an IrishSinn Féinpolitician who has been aTeachta Dála(TD) for theLongford–Westmeathconstituency since the2020 general election.[2]She was elected on the first count and is the first Sinn Féin TD to serve the constituency sinceRuairí Ó Brádaighin 1957.[3]
Political career
[edit]Clarke joined Sinn Féin in 2004[4]and first ran for office in 2009 when she unsuccessfully stood in the2009 Irish local electionsfor Mullingar West inCounty Westmeath.[5]She succeeded in her next attempt and became a member ofWestmeath County Councilat the2014 local elections.[5]She lost her seat on the council in the2019 elections,placing just9th out of 14 candidates,but became a TD in 2020 as part of Sinn Féin's surge that year, topping the poll in her constituency.[6]
Early and personal life
[edit]Clarke is fromArtane, Dublin.She moved toMullingarwith her husband, Darren Caulfield, in 2005 where they run a security business together[4][7]They have four children, including one with autism.
Clarke's grandfather was a member of theIrish Republican Armyand was interned in theCurragh Campfor membership of a proscribed organisation. In his later years, he joinedSinn Féin the Workers' Partyfollowing the 1969 split.[4]
References
[edit]- ^Carswell, Simon; Keena, Colm (13 February 2020)."Younger voters consider IRA past to be 'history', say new Sinn Féin TDs".Irish Times.Archivedfrom the original on 8 June 2023.Retrieved8 June2023.
- ^"Sorca Clarke".Oireachtas Members Database.Archivedfrom the original on 15 February 2020.Retrieved15 February2020.
- ^"Sinn Féin Storms Ahead In First Longford-Westmeath Count".Midlands 103.9 February 2020.Retrieved9 February2020.
- ^abcRyan, Tim (2020).Nealon's Guide to the 33rd Dáil and 26th Seanad and the 2019 local and European elections.The Irish Times.p. 120.
- ^ab"Sorcha Clarke".Elections Ireland.Retrieved22 November2022.
- ^Keena, Colm (11 February 2020)."Longford-Westmeath results: Sorca Clarke tops poll as Boxer Moran loses seat".The Irish Times.Retrieved22 November2022.
- ^"Election 2020: Sorca Clarke (Sinn Féin)".Irish Times.9 February 2020.Archivedfrom the original on 11 February 2020.Retrieved9 February2020.