A FIANNA FÁIL senator has amended his declaration of interests after admitting that he had “erred” by failing to include his ownership of a bar in Galway city and a majority shareholding in an associated company.
Ollie Crowe was the sole owner of Crowe’s Bar, Bohermore from 2003 until 26 January, 2021, according to Land Registry documents, and remains a 75% shareholder of Crowe’s Bar (Galway) Limited.
On his Seanad declaration of interests for 2020, 2021 and 2022, however, he wrote “nil” in the sections relating to both “shares” and “land (including property)”.
When this omission was pointed out to him last week, Crowe confirmed that he had owned both the property and the company shareholding during the relevant period. “When I was completing my declaration of interests, I erred in not including this detail,” he said.
He undertook to contact the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) immediately to amend his declaration and, on Friday, a supplement to the register of members’ interests was published on the Oireachtas website.
This shows Crowe amended his declaration for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022. He declared shares in Crowe’s Bar (Galway) Limited for all three years, and ownership of 90 Bohermore (the address of Crowe’s Bar) for 2020 and 2021.
In the supplementary declaration, the senator noted that the sale of the property had been completed in December 2020 and was registered with the Land Registry on January 26, 2021.
He is the twelfth Oireachtas member to amend their declaration of interests since the resignation of Robert Troy as a junior minister last August following controversy over his failure to declare a number of properties he owned.
Asked about the omissions last week, Crowe explained that he had “decided to step back” from Crowe’s Bar in 2017 after more than 25 years, and said he had no financial or beneficial interests in the business since then, having handed over the running of the establishment to his brother.
However, the pub remained in his name until the property was sold to Bohermore Ventures Limited, a company owned by Mary McGowan, and ownership transferred on January 26, 2021. Mrs McGowan is the wife of Stephen Harris, who was a prominent property developer during the Celtic Tiger.
Crowe claimed the sale of the property had been “agreed” as early as September 2020 and “concluded” in December 2020. However, he added that “the registration process takes some time and was not complete until January 2021”.
“When I was completing my declaration of interests, I erred in not including this detail,” he stated.
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