Francie Brolly

Francie Brolly
Brolly in 2012
Member of theNorthern Ireland Assembly forEast Londonderry
In office 26 November 2003 – 12 January 2010
Preceded by	Michael Coyle
Succeeded by	Billy Leonard
Member ofLimavady Borough Council
In office 7 June 2001 – 5 May 2005
Preceded by	Gerard Lynch
Succeeded by	Cathal Ó hOisín
Constituency	Benbradagh
Personal details
Born	13 January 1938 Dungiven,Northern Ireland
Died	6 February 2020(2020-02-06)(aged 82)
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Aontú(2018–2020)
Other political affiliations	Sinn Féin(until 2018)
Spouse	Anne Brolly
Children	Joe,Proinnsías, Conal, Áine & Nodlaig
Occupation	Musician, teacher, politician

Francis Brolly(13 January 1938 – 6 February 2020) was an Irish musician, teacher andrepublicanpolitician fromNorthern Ireland.Brolly was aSinn FéinMember of the Northern Ireland Assembly(MLA) forEast Londonderryfrom2003to 2010.

Political career

Brolly was elected toLimavady Borough Councilin2001,alongside his wife,Anne,representing theBenbradaghDEA. His wife, incidentally, was the first Sinn Féin mayor, and the first female Mayor ofLimavadybetween 2003 and 2004.

Brolly was first elected to theNorthern Ireland Assemblyat the2003 electionfor East Londonderry.

In 2005, he was arrested by thePolice Service of Northern Ireland(PSNI) and questioned about a bombing incident in the village ofClaudyin 1972.An official complaint was lodged with the Police Ombudsman regarding the lawfulness of the arrest and this investigation was ongoing. Brolly initiated a legal action in relation to the arrest, against the PSNI but he did not proceed with the matter. The case was 'stayed', which means Francie Brolly didn't pursue the matter and there was no out of court settlement, agreement, acceptance of liability or payment of compensation by the police.

He did not seek re-election to Limavady Borough Council at the2005 local elections,and stood down from the Assembly in January 2010.

In February 2018, Brolly left the Sinn Féin Party over its support for abortion.In March 2019, he and his wife joinedAontú,a new anti-abortion republican party founded by former Sinn Féin TDPeadar Tóibín.

At the2019 local elections,Brolly was the Aontú candidate forLimavady,on theCauseway Coast and Glens Borough Council,but was not elected.

Interests

Brolly was anIrish cultureenthusiast. A lyricist and musician, he wrote many well-known Irish republican songs, most famously The H-Block Song. His daughter, Nodlaig, is also a well-known singer and Celtic harpist.He served as the Assembly spokesperson forSinn Féinon Culture, Arts and Leisure, sitting on that department's oversight committee. He was also anIrish languageenthusiast and a fluent speaker of the language.

He was a long-standing member of theGAAand playedfootballfor theDerry county team.He was an Executive Committee Member ofSt Canice's GAC Dungiven.His sonJoewas part of Derry's1993 All-Ireland Championshipwinning side and won twoAll Stars.

Death

Brolly died on 6 February 2020.