A member of Clare’s Fianna Fáil party, Cathal Crowe, recently revealed to the planning authority, An Bord Pleanála, his ownership of a second property, as a result, his application for residential planning permission was denied. The planning authority established that Mr Crowe’s residential needs could adequately be met by the properties and land he presently owned.
Mr Crowe, under his Gaelic name, C. MacConcradha, had submitted plans for a dwelling at Cnoc na Fhraoigh, An Chreatalach in July 2022, having previously withdrawn previous plans for the same area due to opposition. The land in question was a bequest from his late uncle, Tom Crowe who passed away last September.
Despite not disclosing the existence of a second property within the same vicinity, Deputy Crowe successfully obtained planning permission from Clare County Council in September 2022. The only other declared property within the planning application form was located in Clonard, Westbury, Co Clare.
The appeals board had initially advised that the planning permission be granted to Deputy Crowe. However, with the introduction of the Clare County Development Plan 2023-2029, which implements new regulations on standalone rural properties, the appeals board instructed the inspector to request additional submissions regarding Mr Crowe’s eligibility for such a property.
Early this year, an extensive 32-page addition to the planning inspector’s report unveiled that Mr Crowe possesses a second home located at Woodcock Hill, Meelick.
The Crowe report highlighted the transformation in his personal situation from the point where the planning application was initially filed. It detailed that at the time of filing the application with the council in July 2022, Deputy Crowe used to have a residential property in a nearby rural region. Nevertheless, it was revealed that he was neither in possession nor in use of his house whilst the application was being processed, when he received official approval on September 5, 2022, or when he replied to the third-party challenge filed in October that year. The profound personal reasons behind this condition were confirmed in the course of the submission.
A document from Mr Crowe’s legal representative, Michael O’Connor, elucidated the transfer of property and farmland ownership from Mr Crowe’s Uncle, Tom Crowe, to Mr Crowe himself in 2018. Mr Crowe was given the right to reside in the property for his lifetime in the transfer deed signed on November 14, 2018. Despite his official ownership, it was stated that Mr Crowe had no authority to take charge of, rent out, refurbish, or extend the property.
As per the submission, Tom Crowe passed away on September 25, 2023, allowing Mr Crowe to obtain official possession of the house. The report also mentions that Mr Crowe could not inform the council about these developments under the Planning Acts. Following these revised circumstances and the updated rules of the development plan, Adrian Ormsby, the inspector of the appeals board, suggested rejecting the application on May 31st.
This issue emerged within the appeals board only after Matthew Broggy intervened. His act was part of an over four-decade intergenerational land conflict with the Crowe family. This later disagreement on Mr Crowe’s planning proposal occurred 43 years subsequent to a complaints made by Matthew Broggy’s father, Noel, against a plan devised by Mr Crowe’s parents, Michael and Irene Crowe, to construct their own dwelling. Noel Broggy took exception to the 1979 Crowe family’s planning proposal, which involved a contentious land strip next to their property in Meelick, southeast Clare.
When prompted for his thoughts on the matter, Deputy Crowe voiced his disappointment on Wednesday, saying, “I am disappointed, however, I am evaluating the situation. There is a significant amount of documentation that needs to be digested.” On being questioned if he felt remorse for not disclosing the possession of the additional property in the application, he stated that he was currently scrutinising the paperwork.