Peter Fitzpatrick (born 11 May 1962) is an Irish

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

politician who has been a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms s ...

(TD) for the Louth constituency since the 2011 general election. He was a former soldier in the

27 Infantry Battalion The 27th Infantry Battalion (''27th Inf Bn''; Irish: ''27ú Cathlán Coisithe'') is one of the seven infantry battalions of the Irish Army. The battalion was established on 1 September 1973 and forms part of the 2nd Brigade. The Battalion He ...

and also a former manager of the

Louth county football team The Louth county football team represents Louth in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Louth GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland S ...

Sporting career

As a player, Fitzpatrick won a Leinster Under 21 Championship in 1981. Fitzpatrick was appointed the manager of Louth in November 2009, succeeding

Eamonn McEneaney Eamon McEneaney is an Irish former Gaelic footballer and manager. As a player, he won the National Football League in 1985. He most recently managed the senior Monaghan county team. Playing career As a player with Monaghan, McEneaney won thr ...

, the former

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Ireland. It also provides the name of its civil parish and barony. The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7,678. The town is on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry and Letterken ...

footballer and manager. His first season in charge of Louth proved to be historic as the team reached their first Leinster final in 50 years. The

2010 Leinster Senior Football Championship Final The 2010 Leinster Senior Football Championship Final was the last football match of the 2010 Leinster Senior Football Championship, played between Louth and Meath on 11 July 2010 in Croke Park, Dublin. Louth were appearing in their first Leinst ...

pitted them against

Meath Meath may refer to: General * County Meath, Republic of Ireland **Kingdom of Meath, medieval precursor of the county ** List of kings of Meath ** Meath GAA, including the intercounty football and hurling teams ** Diocese of Meath, in the Roman Cath ...

. Louth almost won but for referee Martin Sludden, who allowed a controversial goal by Joe Sheridan late in the game. Louth subsequently entered the

2010 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The 2010 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 124th edition of the GAA's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament, played between 31 of the 32 counties of Ireland plus London and New York. The draw for the championship took pl ...

through the "back door". However, the team lost heavily to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

in their next game, thus ending the county's 2010 championship season. In the 2011 season, Louth qualified for the Division 3 Final where they faced

Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

. Louth won on a scoreline of 1-15 to 0-13. He quit in 2012 after 3 years. He went on to become the chairman of the Louth County Board, and was in this role when

Mickey Harte Mickey Harte (born 1952) is an Irish Gaelic football manager and former player. He has been manager of the Louth county team since 2020. Harte managed the Tyrone county team from 2002 until his resignation in 2020, at which time he was the ...

was appointed Louth manager in 2020, also with the successful application for planning for a new stadium for Louth GAA.

Political career

Fitzpatrick allowed his name to go forward for a nomination for

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

ahead of the 2011 general election. He was elected as a Fine Gael TD for Louth. In Dáil Éireann, he sat on the Committee for Transport, Tourism and Sport, and previously on the Health committee. He opposed the legalisation of abortion in Ireland, calling for a "No" vote in the 2018 abortion referendum. In August 2018, he announced that he would not contest the

next general election This is a list of the next general elections around the world in democratic polities. The general elections listed are for the government of each jurisdiction. These elections determine the Prime Minister and makeup of the legislature in a parli ...

for Fine Gael. In October 2018, he announced he would seek re-election as an independent and resigned from Fine Gael. Fitzpatrick was elected as an independent candidate for Louth at the

2020 general election The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2020. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems maintains a comprehensive list of upcoming elections on its E-Guide Platform. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calend ...

. He is the first Independent to be elected for the constituency since

James Coburn James Harrison Coburn III (August 31, 1928 – November 18, 2002) was an American film and television actor who was featured in more than 70 films, largely action roles, and made 100 television appearances during a 45-year career.AllmoviBi ...

(later of Fine Gael) at the 1932 general election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzpatrick, Peter 1962 births Living people Chairmen of county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association Fine Gael TDs Gaelic football managers Independent TDs Military personnel from County Louth Irish sportsperson-politicians Louth County Board administrators Louth inter-county Gaelic footballers Members of the 31st Dáil Members of the 32nd Dáil Members of the 33rd Dáil Politicians from County Louth