Patsy Groogan
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Use Irish English|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Patsy Groogan
| office = Member of
Magherafelt District Council
| constituency = Sperrin
| term_start = 19 May 1993
| term_end = 5 May 2011
| predecessor = Bernard O'Hagan
| successor = Brian McGuigan
| office1 = Northern Ireland Forum Member
for Mid Ulster
| term_start1 = 30 May 1996
| term_end1 = 25 April 1998
| predecessor1 = New forum
| successor1 = Forum dissolved
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Ballinascreen, Northern Ireland
| death_date =
| party = Independent Republican (since 2006)
| otherparty = Sinn Féin (until 2006)
}}
Patrick "Patsy" Groogan is an Irish republican politician.
Background
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."[http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/5312 Groogan elected Chair of Magherafelt District Council]", An Phoblacht, 17 June 2004
Groogan held the Sperrin seat, heading the poll in each council election from 1993 to 2005.[http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/lgmagherafelt.htm Magherafelt District Council Elections 1993-2005], Northern Ireland Elections He became the first Sinn Féin Chairperson of Magherafelt District Council, and served a second term starting in 2004. He was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum in Mid Ulster, but he did not stand in the subsequent 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election.[http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/amu.htm Newry and Armagh], Northern Ireland Elections
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.Liam Clarke, [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article648919.ece "Key members quit Sinn Fein over controls"]{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, Sunday Times, 24 September 2006.
References
{{reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|ni/for}}
{{s-new | Forum}}
{{s-ttl
| title = Member for Mid-Ulster
| years = 1996–1998
}}
{{s-non | reason = Forum dissolved }}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Groogan, Patsy}}
Category:Place of birth missing (living people)
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Members of the Northern Ireland Forum
Category:Independent politicians in Northern Ireland
Category:Sinn Féin politicians
Category:Sports coaches from Northern Ireland