Patsy Groogan

Patrick "Patsy" Groogan is an Irish republican politician.

Based in Ballinascreen, Groogan became a sports coach with a particular involvement in hurling. He became prominent in his local Gaelic Athletic Association, and joined Sinn Féin. In 1991, Bernard O'Hagan, a Sinn Féin councillor for the Sperrin area of the Magherafelt District Council, was assassinated, and Groogan was appointed as his replacement.[1]

Groogan held the Sperrin seat, heading the poll in each council election from 1993 to 2005.[2] He became the first Sinn Féin Chairperson of Magherafelt District Council, and served a second term starting in 2004.[1] He was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum in Mid Ulster, but he did not stand in the subsequent 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election.[3]

In 2006, Groogan resigned from Sinn Féin, along with Oliver Hughes, but continued to sit on the council as an independent. Hughes described their resignations as "purely a domestic issue", but the Sunday Times speculated that they may have been in protest at a lack of internal party democracy.[4]

References
  1. "Groogan elected Chair of Magherafelt District Council", An Phoblacht, 17 June 2004
  2. Magherafelt District Council Elections 1993-2005, Northern Ireland Elections
  3. Newry and Armagh, Northern Ireland Elections
  4. Liam Clarke, "Key members quit Sinn Fein over controls", Sunday Times, 24 September 2006.
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