Anne & Frances Brolly

Antiwar songs by Anne & Frances Brolly
United Kingdom United Kingdom

Anne & Frances BrollyFrancie Brolly MLA is a musician, retired teacher and Irish Republican politician from Dungiven, Northern Ireland. He was first elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2003 and was re-elected in 2007 as a Sinn Féin member for the East Londonderry constituency. He will retire in 2010.

His wife, Anne Brolly was the first ever Sinn Féin Mayor and the first female Mayor of Limavady between 2003 and 2004, the council to which she was elected in 2001.

In 2005, he was arrested and questioned by Northern Ireland police over a triple car bomb incident that took place in the village of Claudy in 1972. An official complaint was lodged with the Police Ombudsman regarding the lawfulness of the arrest and this investigation is ongoing. Mr Brolly mounted a legal challenge in relation to the arrest against the Police Service of Northern Ireland which was settled out of court.

Brolly is an Irish culture enthusiast and has written many well-known Irish Republican songs. He is currently the spokesperson for Sinn Féin on the matter of Culture, Arts and Leisure, sitting on the department's committee. He is also an Irish language enthusiast and is a fluent speaker of the language. Francie is a long-standing member of the GAA and has played football for Derry.

He is an Executive Committee Member of St. Canice's GAC Dungiven. His son Joe Brolly was part of Derry's 1993 All-Ireland Championship winning side and has won two All Stars. Brolly is also a lyricist and musician, most famously the author of the The H-Block Song. His daughter, Nollaig is also a well-known singer and Celtic harpist.