COMMENT: Working with Hillary opened my eyes to politics

Hillary. She’s one of the few people who is recognised globally based on her first name alone. 

Politicians are normally known by their surnames overseas (Blair, Bush, Brown, Clinton, Chirac etc). Perhaps her international recognition based on her first name highlights two obvious things about Hillary: she’s been around the top of politics for a long time and she’s a woman. No risk of confusing her with other Hillarys in politics, really. 

Between 2006 and 2008 I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work with her and, for a young fella from Ballymun who was doing part-time work in the local Domino’s when I started, it was a huge opportunity – and one I grabbed with both hands. 

Up close, she’s a lot different to what we’ve come to know. Where on television you see someone who perhaps comes across as cold and robotic, up close you see someone who’s warm and empathetic. 

She cares about her work and about the people it affects. She cares about the people who work for her – even the interns. If a staff member is sick, she’ll ring them to see how they are. 

When I started in the office, she asked me about different parts of Dublin she had been to. They’re little things, and while they’re the mark of a good politician, they’re also the mark of a good person. 

She’s formidable, tough and intelligent, too. Time after time she proved to all of us just how on top of things she was. 

When there was a discussion on energy one time, it veered onto nuclear power just after I arrived in the room and, spotting me, she said: “Noel, Sellafield is a big issue in Ireland, isn’t it?” 

And at the time, it was indeed. I thought that the ability for someone to connect that issue, and my locality, at such a remove in Washington DC, demonstrated a real sharpness that you can’t simply study. 

I spent some months interning in Washington DC and, in truth, it changed my trajectory from a would be journalist to a would be politician. The things that interested me in journalism – people, their stories – interest me in politics, too. But in politics you can help people solve problems in the moments that they need help – or at least try. 

Once the bug had bitten me and I was offered the opportunity to go to Iowa and work on her first Presidential campaign, I couldn’t say no. 

American Presidential campaigns, as we are seeing right now, are a bit mad (to put it mildly). The level of financing is incredible.

In my own case, Iowa – as the first state in the country to select the nominee of both Democrats and Republicans – sees a lot of focus. This meant many staff, a lot of media attention and a rake of celebrities. This is something we don’t see much in Ireland but, for example, Scarlett Johansson, Ted Danson and Ron Howard were among the many people who worked with me in the small town of Ames, which only had a population of around 50,000. 

Both the work in her Senate office and the Presidential campaign were unforgettable experiences and gave me an insight into possibly the most talked about female politician of modern times and, hopefully, the next President of the United States. 

If she’s back in the White House, it’s my ambition to pay it forward and make sure a young local person has the same opportunities I did – and I know that’s something she wouldn’t say no to.

Noel Rock is a Fine Gael TD for Dublin North West