Shane Peter Nathaniel Ross (born 11 July 1949) is a former Irish Independent politician who served as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport from May 2016 to June 2020. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Rathdown constituency from 2016 to 2020, and previously from 2011 to 2016 for the Dublin South constituency. He was a member of Seanad Éireann for the Dublin University from 1981 to 2011, until his election to Dáil Éireann at the 2011 general election. He is a former business editor of the Sunday Independent. He was a Fine Gael Wicklow County Councillor, and a one-time Fine Gael general election candidate in the Wicklow constituency. In the 31st Dáil he was a member of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee. He co-founded the Independent Alliance with Michael Fitzmaurice in 2015. He was re-elected to the 32nd Dáil, and subsequently appointed by Taoiseach Enda Kenny as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport in May 2016. Early life and career Shane Ross was born in Dublin in 1949. He is the son of former Senator and prominent member of the legal fraternity, John N. Ross, and the noted gardener and writer Ruth Isabel Sherrington. He was schooled at St Stephen's School, Dundrum, and Rugby School, before attending Trinity College Dublin, where he graduated with a degree in history and political science in 1971. During his time at Trinity he was the Record Secretary of the College Historical Society. A stockbroker with NCB, Ross was Business Editor of the Sunday Independent, Ireland's biggest-selling weekend broadsheet, until his election to the Dáil in 2011, when he resigned from the post. He is married to Ruth Buchanan, a former presenter and journalist with RTÉ, Ireland's national broadcaster. His son-in-law is Nick Webb, who succeeded him as Business Editor of the Sunday Independent. He was first elected to the Seanad in 1981, as an Independent candidate for the Dublin University constituency, and was re-elected on nine occasions, becoming the longest-serving member of the house. He stood unsuccessfully as an Independent candidate at the 1984 European Parliament election, for the Dublin constituency. At the 1991 local elections, he was elected as a Fine Gael candidate to Wicklow County Council for the Bray local electoral area, and served until 1999. He stood as a candidate for the party in the Wicklow constituency at the 1992 general election, but did not gain a seat,