Brian Donal Crowley (born 4 March 1964) is an Irish former

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...

politician who served as a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP) for the South constituency from 1994 to 2019. He served as a Senator from 1993 to 1994, after being nominated by the Taoiseach. He is a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

-user as a result of an accident at age 16.

Early and personal life

Crowley was born in

Blackrock, Dublin Blackrock () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, northwest of Dún Laoghaire. Location and access Blackrock covers a large but not precisely defined area, rising from sea level on the coast to at White's Cross on the N11 national primary road. ...

in 1964, but was raised in

Bandon, County Cork Bandon (; ) is a town in County Cork, Ireland. It lies on the River Bandon between two hills. The name in Irish means 'Bridge of the Bandon', a reference to the origin of the town as a crossing point on the river. In 2004 Bandon celebrated its ...

, where he attended Hamilton High School. He received a diploma in law in 1993 from

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one ...

. His father,

Flor Crowley Florence Crowley (27 December 1934 – 16 May 1997) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for thirteen years, and a Senator for five years. Family An auctioneer from Bandon, County Cork, Crowley was an accomplished ...

, served as a TD for various Cork constituencies for most of the period between the 1965 general election and the February 1982 election.

Politics

In 1993, he was nominated by the Taoiseach

Albert Reynolds Albert Martin Reynolds (3 November 1932 – 21 August 2014) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1992 to 1994, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1992 to 1994, Minister for Finance from 1988 to 1991, Minister for Indust ...

to the 20th Seanad Éireann. At the

1994 European Parliament election The 1994 European Parliamentary election was a European election held across the 12 European Union member states in June 1994. This election saw the merge of the European People's Party and European Democrats, an increase in the overall numbe ...

he was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

for the Munster constituency. He retained his seat at the three subsequent elections. He was a member of Ireland's

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

from 1997 to 2004, Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and the delegation for relations with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Crowley also served as a substitute member of the

Committee on Legal Affairs The Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) is a committee of the European Parliament. Responsibilities The main responsibilities of the committee are the interpretation and application of international and European law and the compliance of European U ...

. Crowley stated in an interview with ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' on 29 September 2008 that he would like to run for

President of Ireland The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Ireland and the supreme commander of the Irish Defence Forces. The president holds office for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms.Constitu ...

at the 2011 presidential election. On 12 February 2009, the Committee on Legal Affairs of the

approved a report drafted by Brian Crowley to extend the

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

term of music recordings from 50 years to 95 years. He was co-president of the

Union for Europe of the Nations Union for Europe of the Nations (UEN) was a national–conservative, Eurosceptic political group of the European Parliament active between 1999 and 2009. History UEN was formed on 20 July 1999 for the 5th European Parliament, supplanting the ...

until 2009, when Fianna Fáil joined the ALDE group. In June 2011, Crowley refused to release details of his expense and allowance claims as a member of the European Parliament. Again in July 2011, Crowley declared to Fianna Fáil party colleagues, that he was available to run for the presidency, but had been advised by party colleague Fianna Fáil TD

Willie O'Dea Willie O'Dea ( ; born 1 November 1952) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Limerick City constituency since 2011, and previously from 1982 to 2011 for the Limerick East constituency. He has served as Min ...

not to seek his party's nomination. In the context of failure to be nominated for the presidential election by his party, Crowley withdrew his candidature for the nomination. From 2011 to 2013, Crowley had trouble with

sore Sore may refer to: * Ulcer (dermatology), a sore on the skin or a mucous membrane * Sore, a mild pain or ache * ''Sore'' (album), by Buzzov*en * Sore (band), an Indonesian rock band * Sore, Landes, a village in the Landes département of France * ...

s on his legs arising from his paralysis. These required repeated treatment which kept him out of the public eye. In July 2013, he said his health was improved and he intended to run for re-election in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. In June 2014, he joined the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament, against the wishes of the Fianna Fáil leadership. He lost the Fianna Fáil party whip on 24 June 2014. Fianna Fáil stated that the principles of the ECR group were incompatible with the party. In December 2015, concerns were raised about Crowley's frequent absence from the European Parliament due to ill health. A news report in May 2016 stated that Crowley had failed to attend any votes since being re-elected over two years previously. In March 2018, Politico Europe included him in their list of "The 20 MEPs who matter, for the wrong reasons". In June 2018, the '' Irish Examiner'' reported that Crowley had not voted in the Parliament since his re-election on 2014. He has not cast a single vote in the 2014 to 2019 session. On 17 January 2019, Crowley announced at a news conference that he would not seek re-election in the European elections in May 2019, and would be retiring from public life.

References

External links

*
Brian Crowley's page on the VoteWatch website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crowley, Brian 1964 births Living people Fianna Fáil MEPs Fianna Fáil senators Independent MEPs for Ireland Members of the 20th Seanad MEPs for the Republic of Ireland 1994–1999 MEPs for the Republic of Ireland 1999–2004 MEPs for the Republic of Ireland 2004–2009 MEPs for the Republic of Ireland 2009–2014 MEPs for the Republic of Ireland 2014–2019 Politicians from County Cork Politicians with paraplegia Presidential appointees to the Council of State (Ireland) Nominated members of Seanad Éireann

Early and personal life

Politics

See also

References

External links