Following Ahern's election as Taoiseach in June 1997, O'Rourke became Minister for Public Enterprise, holding this position until she lost her Dáil seat at the 2002 general election. This followed a vote management strategy from Fianna Fáil head office which restricted her from campaigning in her traditional areas around Kilbeggan, in an attempt to win 2 of the 3 seats in Westmeath. The loss of her Dáil seat has also been attributed to her association with and the championing of, the privatisation of Telecom Éireann, which proved a financial disaster for many small investors, due to the share price falling radically, post privatisation. During this term as Minister, she also became the subject of public criticism by Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary. Following the loss of her Dáil seat, she was nominated to Seanad Éireann as a Senator by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern where she became Leader of the Seanad and leader of Fianna Fáil in the Seanad. In January 2006, O'Rourke received the party nomination to stand at the 2007 general election. She narrowly defeated her nearest rival and Dáil election running mate, Kevin "Boxer" Moran of Athlone Town Council, causing a controversy when she thanked her election team for working "like blacks." In May 2007, she was re-elected to the Dáil at the 2007 general election, with her highest ever vote. In November 2008, during a march against the re-introduction of college fees, students from the Athlone Institute of Technology laid a funeral wreath at the door of O'Rourke's constituency office. The card in the wreath stated "Sincere sympathies on the death of free fees. We will remember this." O'Rourke described the act as "heinous". The wreath was placed there because O'Rourke was not speaking at a rally against the fees. In July 2010, O'Rourke conceded that she did not expect the party to be in power after the next general election. On RTÉ Radio's "Today with Pat Kenny" programme, O'Rourke said the government was taking tough decisions to steer the country through the financial crisis and this would make it easy for the opposition. She said there was a general air of "crossness" within the Fianna Fáil party over their standing in the polls, but nobody was harbouring leadership ambitions to challenge Brian Cowen. O'Rourke in November 2010 said there was then more to unite her party and Fine Gael than to divide them.