Patrick J. "Paddy" Roche (born 1940) is a former Unionist

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

who was a

Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs; ga, Comhaltaí den Tionól Reachtach; sco-ulster, Laa-Makkan Forgaitherars) are representatives elected by the voters to the Northern Ireland Assembly. About The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 ...

(MLA) for Lagan Valley from 1998 to 2003. After working in banking, Roche studied economics and politics at

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. This was followed by political philosophy at the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...

, where he earned an MA in Social Sciences in 1972 as a member of the Graduate Society. He then became a lecturer in economics at the

University of Ulster sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

, and in 1978 also took up a post at the

Irish Baptist College The Irish Baptist College (IBC) is a Baptist theological college in Moira, Craigavon, Northern Ireland. It is affiliated with the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland. It is part of the Baptist Theological Centre which is located in the ...

. He wrote a number of books on politics and economics in Northern Ireland.Biography - Patrick Roche, Northern Ireland Assembly
Roche joined the

UK Unionist Party The UK Unionist Party (UKUP) was a small unionist political party in Northern Ireland from 1995 to 2008 that opposed the Good Friday Agreement. It was nominally formed by Robert McCartney, formerly of the Ulster Unionist Party, to contest the ...

(UKUP) and headed their list in South Belfast for the

Northern Ireland Forum The Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. The forum was elected, with five members being elected for each Westmin ...

election in 1996, but was not elected. At the

1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election The 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election took place on Thursday, 25 June 1998. This was the first election to the new devolved Northern Ireland Assembly. Six members from each of Northern Ireland's eighteen Westminster Parliamentary constit ...

, Roche was elected in

Lagan Valley The Lagan Valley (, Ulster Scots: ''Glen Lagan'') is an area of Northern Ireland between Belfast and Lisburn. The River Lagan rises on Slieve Croob in County Down and flows generally northward discharging into Belfast Lough. For a section, the ...

. With three of the other four UKUP members in the Assembly, he left in January 1999, disagreeing with leader Robert McCartney's policy of resigning from the Assembly should

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

become part of the power sharing executive. They formed the

Northern Ireland Unionist Party The Northern Ireland Unionist Party (NIUP) was a small unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was formed in January 1999 as a splinter party from the UK Unionist Party (UKUP). This split was caused by disagreement between the five UKU ...

(NIUP), and Roche became deputy leader.Northern Ireland political parties
''

Guardian Unlimited TheGuardian.com, formerly known as Guardian.co.uk and ''Guardian Unlimited'', is a British news and media website owned by the Guardian Media Group. It contains nearly all of the content of the newspapers ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'', ...

''; accessed 27 July 2016. During his time in the Assembly, Roche proposed a motion on

sectarianism Sectarianism is a political or cultural conflict between two groups which are often related to the form of government which they live under. Prejudice, discrimination, or hatred can arise in these conflicts, depending on the political status quo ...

. During the debate, he called Sinn Féin MLA

Gerry Kelly Gerard Kelly (Irish: Gearard Ó Ceallaigh; born 5 April 1953) is an Irish republican politician and former Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) member who played a leading role in the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement on 1 ...

a convicted murderer. Kelly was convicted of conspiracy to cause an explosion in London in 1973, but not murder. He pointed this out, and when Roche refused to withdraw his comment, he was ordered to leave the chamber.Motion passed on sectarianism
, ''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

''; accessed 27 July 2016. Roche did not contest his seat at the 2003 election, at which the NIUP lost all its seats.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roche, Patrick Living people 1940 births Academics of Ulster University Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Northern Ireland MLAs 1998–2003 UK Unionist Party MLAs Date of birth missing (living people) Northern Ireland Unionist Party MLAs Alumni of Durham University Graduate Society