Investigation finds former Mayor broke ethics rules

By Dara Bradley

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has decided not to prosecute a former Mayor of Galway, who has been found to have breached ethics legislation.

An investigation by City Manager Joe O’Neill found that Galway City Councillor Mike Crowe twice breached ethics requirements but because he “acted in good faith”, no legal proceedings will be taken against the Fianna Fáil politician.

Mr O’Neill initiated the investigation in January of this year after receiving a complaint from a member of the public.

Cllr Crowe told the Sentinel last night that the complaint was “politically motivated” but he added he was very happy that any questions over his integrity have been cleared up due to the City Manager and DPP’s decision not to prosecute.

The complaint was twofold and was lodged when Cllr Crowe was mayor and in the lead-up to the General Election, which Cllr Crowe contested unsuccessfully.

The complaint alleged that Cllr Crowe failed to declare in official documents that he was a benefactor of Galway City Council contracts awarded to him as a landlord under the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS). The contracts are worth several thousand Euros a month to Cllr Crowe.

Cllr Crowe hadn’t declared in the Annual Register of Interests in 2009 that he had property contracted to the local authority. The declaration was initially omitted from the 2010 declaration but that was subsequently amended for that year. It is compulsory for elected members to declare RAS interests in the Annual Register of Interests. The second part of the complaint related to a City Council meeting in September, 2009.

The complainant said that Cllr Crowe was in breach of ethics legislation because he failed to declare an interest in the RAS scheme and absent himself from the meeting, which had discussed property-related issues.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.