Patrick "Patsy" Groogan is an Irish republican politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

.

Based in Ballinascreen, Groogan became a sports coach with a particular involvement in hurling

Hurling

Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...

. He became prominent in his local Gaelic Athletic Association

Gaelic Athletic Association

The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...

, and joined Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...

. In 1991, Bernard O'Hagan, a Sinn Féin councillor for the Sperrin area of Magherafelt District Council

Magherafelt District Council

Magherafelt District Council is a district council in County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. Council headquarters are in Magherafelt. The Council area stretches from Lough Neagh and the River Bann in the east and into the Sperrin Mountains in the west and is divided by the Moyola River. It covers...

, was killed, and Groogan was appointed as his replacement.

Groogan held the Sperrin seat, heading the poll in each council election from 1993

Northern Ireland local elections, 1993

Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland on 19 May 1993.-Overall:-Belfast:-References:...

 to 2005

Northern Ireland local elections, 2005

Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland on 5 May 2005 along with the 2005 general election across the entire United Kingdom and local elections in England.-Results:-Belfast:-Derry:...

. He became the first Sinn Féin Chairperson of Magherafelt District Council, and served a second term starting in 2004. He was also elected to the Northern Ireland Forum

Northern Ireland Forum

The Northern Ireland Forum was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Belfast Agreement in 1998....

 in Mid Ulster

Mid Ulster (Assembly constituency)

Mid Ulster is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973...

, but he did not stand in the subsequent Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998

Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998

-Seats summary:-Details:Although the SDLP won the most first preference votes, the Ulster Unionists won the most seats in the Assembly. This has been attributed to several reasons, including:...

.

In 2006, Groogan resigned from Sinn Féin, along with Oliver Hughes, but continued to sit on the council as an independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

. 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.