Cathal Crowe

Cathal Crowe (born 1 October 1982) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Clare constituency since the 2020 general election.[2]

Cathal Crowe
TD
Teachta Dála
Assumed office
February 2020
ConstituencyClare
Personal details
Born (1982-10-01) 1 October 1982[1]
Limerick, Ireland
Political partyFianna Fáil
Spouse
Maeve Fehilly
​
(m. 2013)​
Children3
Alma mater

Political career

Crowe was first elected to Clare County Council in 2004 at 21 years of age, making him the youngest councillor in Ireland.[3] Reflecting on this in a 2019 interview, Crowe said "I was very green when first elected. I didn’t own a suit at the time, I was finishing exams at UL and drove around on a scooter. With my first pay cheque from the Council I bought a PlayStation 2. For all the experience I lacked, I had huge hunger and desire to make things better for my community and the Council".[4]

In 2019, as the Mayor of County Clare, he gained attention as the first politician to decide to boycott the government's commemoration of the Royal Irish Constabulary.[5][6] He was a member of Clare County Council for the Shannon local electoral area from 2004 to 2020.

Crowe went on to successfully contest three more elections to Clare County Council in 2009, 2014 and 2019, twice topping the poll by receiving the most first preference votes.[7][8]

In March 2023, political news website The Ditch reported that Crowe had not disclosed his ownership of two homes on a planning application to Clare County Council for permission to build a house. [9] In addition, the same article reported Crowe had falsely claimed to have lived in his parents' house until 2012, when he had in fact bought and moved into a property in 2007. When questioned by RTÉ, Crowe rejected the allegation from The Ditch that he owned two homes and defended his use of the Irish form of his name on the planning application form. [10]

Further investigations by The Ditch revealed that Crowe had not declared EU payments in respect of farmland that he owns in County Clare, thereby breaching the rules for declaring sources of income on Dáil ethics returns. [11]

Personal life

Crowe is the son of Michael, a retired fire fighter and Irene, a retired nurse.[12][13] In 2013, he married Maeve Fehilly from Charleville, County Cork.[14] The couple have three children together.[15]

Prior to being elected as a TD, Crowe was a primary school teacher in Parteen National School.[16][13]

References
  1. Tim Ryan (2020). Nealon's Guide to the 33rd Dáil and 26th Seanad and the 2019 Local and European Elections. Grand Canal Publishing.
  2. "Cathal Crowe". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  3. Deegan, Gordon. "Clare country results: Fianna Fáil once against largest party". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  4. "Cathal Crowe becomes second youngest Mayor of Clare". The Clare Echo News. 8 June 2019. Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  5. Kane, Conor (5 January 2020). "Mayor of Clare to boycott Royal Irish Constabulary commemoration". RTE News. Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  6. McGreevy, Ronan; Deegan, Gordon. "FF mayor who started boycott of RIC event wins seat in Clare". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  7. "7 sitting candidates face 3 challengers in Shannon MD". The Clare Echo News. 23 May 2019. Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  8. "Clare County Council - The Results". www.irishexaminer.com. 15 May 2019. Archived from the original on 27 May 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  9. "Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe lied about homeownership on planning application". 29 March 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  10. "Fianna Fáil TD denies owning two homes following report". RTÉ.ie. 31 March 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  11. "Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe hasn't declared farming income as legally required". 31 March 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  12. Danaher, Dan (5 August 2017). "Crowe up and running in Dail race". Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  13. McMahon, Páraic (7 February 2020). "I've always wanted to enter national politics". Clare Echo Newspaper. Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  14. "Honeymoon over for newlyweds on rival sides". independent. Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  15. "Westbury councillor elected new Mayor of Clare". www.limerickleader.ie. Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  16. "Cllr. Cathal Crowe | Clare County Council". Fianna Fáil. Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
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