Malcolm Noonan (born September 1966) is an Irish

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

senator who has been a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for the

Agricultural Panel The Agricultural Panel is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Agricultural Panel elects eleven senators. Election Article 18 ...

since January 2025. He previously served as a

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

from July 2020 to January 2025, and as 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 Carlow–Kilkenny constituency from February 2020 to November 2024. Before entering politics, Noonan worked for twenty years as a community and environmental activist with

Friends of the Earth Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of grassroots environmental organizations in 73 countries. About half of the member groups call themselves "Friends of the Earth" in their own languages; the others use other ...

. He was a member of

Kilkenny County Council Kilkenny County Council () is the local authority of County Kilkenny, 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 ...

for the

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

local electoral area A local electoral area (LEA; ) is an electoral area for elections to Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local authorities in Ireland. All elections in the Republic of Ireland, elections use the single transferable vote. Republic of Ir ...

from 2004 to 2020 and was Mayor of Kilkenny from 2009 to 2010. Maria Dollard was co-opted to Noonan's seat on

following his election to the Dáil. In 2011, Noonan contested the leadership of the Green Party. He was a candidate at the Carlow–Kilkenny by-election and at the 2016 general election. At the 2020 general election, he won a seat in Carlow–Kilkenny, taking the last of five seats on the tenth count. Noonan had proven transfer-friendly, and told ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'', "for the first time, we didn’t have to sell the climate issue this election. Young people were asking us what we were going to do". On 1 July 2020, he was appointed by the Fianna Fáil–Fine Gael–Green coalition government as

Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage The Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage of the Government of Ireland who may perform functions delegated by the M ...

with responsibility for Nature, Heritage and Electoral Reform. Noonan lost his Dáil seat at the 2024 general election. He was elected to

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann ( ; ; "Senate of Ireland") is the senate of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (defined as the house of representatives). It is commonly called the Seanad or ...

at the

2025 Seanad election An indirect election to the 27th Seanad took place in January 2025, following the 2024 general election to the 34th Dáil in November 2024. Seanad Éireann is the upper house of the Oireachtas, with Dáil Éireann as its lower house. Polls clo ...

for the

References

External links

Green Party profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noonan, Malcolm Living people 1966 births Members of Kilkenny County Council Mayors of places in the Republic of Ireland Members of the 33rd Dáil Members of the 27th Seanad Green Party (Ireland) TDs Mayors of Kilkenny Ministers of State of the 33rd Dáil Members of Kilkenny Archaeological Society Green Party (Ireland) local councillors Green Party (Ireland) senators Agricultural Panel senators