Pat Doherty

Pat Doherty
Vice President of Sinn Féin
In office 1988–2009
President	Gerry Adams
Succeeded by	Mary Lou McDonald
Member of Parliament for West Tyrone
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 June 2001
Preceded by	William Thompson
Majority	10,685 (28.7%)
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for West Tyrone
In office 25 June 1998 – June 2012
Preceded by	new office
Succeeded by	Declan McAleer
Personal details
Born	18 July 1945 Glasgow, Scotland
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Sinn Féin
Website	Pat Doherty MP

Patrick Doherty (born 18 July 1945) is an Irish politician and abstentionist Member of Parliament for West Tyrone. He was a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for the same constituency from June 1998 to June 2012. Doherty served as Vice President of Sinn Féin^[1] from 1988 to 2009, when Mary Lou McDonald became the party's new Vice President.^[2]

Political career

Born in Glasgow, Doherty's parents were from County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. Doherty moved to Donegal in 1968, shortly before the Troubles broke out across the Irish border. He has been an abstentionist Sinn Féin Member of Parliament of the British parliament for West Tyrone since 2001, as well as a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly since the 1998 elections. He has also stood for election in the Republic of Ireland, in the constituency of Donegal North–East in 1989, 1996 (by-election) and 1997 and also in the Connacht–Ulster constituency in the EU elections in 1989 and 1994.^[3]

In May 2002, using parliamentary privilege, Ulster Unionist Party MP David Burnside named Doherty as a member of the IRA Army Council.^[4] His brother Hugh Doherty was part of the IRA's Balcombe Street Gang.^[5]

Personal life

According to The Times Guide to the House of Commons, Doherty is married with three daughters and two sons, was educated at St Joseph's College, Lochwinnoch, and is a site engineer who likes building stone walls.^[6] He is the brother of former Provisional IRA member Hugh Doherty, known for his involvement in the Balcombe Street siege.

In a two and a half year period, Doherty spent £16,000 on printer cartridges, an amount that he admitted was "probably excessive".^[7]

In 2012 to some surprise Doherty supported funding for a loyalist flute band in Castlederg. He praised the band in the application for reaching out to "all sections of the community".^[8] The band had sought support for its funding application from a community group who then, unbeknownst to the band, reached out to Doherty. A spokesman for the band, whose website features a song commemorating deceased Ulster Volunteer Force killer Brian Robinson, distanced themselves from the application, claiming the band were unaware of Doherty's support and did not want it. He added that "The band harbours nothing but contempt for Irish republicanism and its attacks on their community". Four of the band's members were killed by the IRA.^[9]

References

1. Fermanagh and South Tyrone 1998
2. "Doherty stands down in reshuffle". BBC News. 8 January 2009. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
3. "Pat Doherty MP". Sinn Féin. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-03-27.
4. "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 26 May 2002 (pt 8)". House of Commons. 26 May 2002. Retrieved 2007-03-27.
5. "Balcombe Street gang to be freed". BBC. 9 April 1999. Retrieved 2007-03-27.
6. The Times Guide to the House of Commons 2010, Times Books
7. "The Journal - SF politician runs up £16k bill on printer toner cartridges (yes, again)". The Journal. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
8. "Sinn Féin MP Pat Doherty backed loyalist band cash bid" BBC News 30 August 2012
9. "Flute band shocked by SF support" The Newsletter 3 September 2012

External links

• Guardian Unlimited Politics - ask Aristotle: Pat Doherty
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Pat Doherty MP