Brian Crowley, the former Fianna Fáil senator and poll-topping MEP, has died aged 61, the party has announced.
Mr Crowley, a wheelchair user since an accident in his teens left him paralysed from the waist down, had suffered from ill-health for several years.
A native of Bandon, Co Cork, Mr Crowley was a son of the former Fianna Fáil TD Flor Crowley.
He was appointed to the Seanad by then taoiseach Albert Reynolds in 1993, and the following year ran for the European Parliament, topping the polls after an energetic campaign. He later said he had worn out multiple wheelchair tyres on the campaign trail.
READ MORE
He would go on to become one of Fianna Fáil’s most prolific vote-getters, topping the poll in every European election he contested – in 1994, 1999, 2004, 2009 and in 2014 – and he enjoyed huge personal popularity inside and outside Fianna Fáil.
Paying tribute on Friday, the Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader, Micheál Martin, said “Brian was a hugely impressive individual” and pointed to the “truly extraordinary levels of support” he achieved in elections.
“His vote was testament to the truly strong bond between him and the people he represented. Without question he was one of the great vote-getters of the modern political era. He had no equal,” he said.
“He was also an impactful legislator in the European Parliament and was extremely popular with parliamentarians and officials throughout the European Union.”
He paid tribute to his “incredible personal resilience and strength of character”, adding he would be missed by his wide circle of friends and colleagues.
Over the years, Mr Crowley’s spectacular electoral record insulated him against occasional tensions with party headquarters, whose vote management and seat maximisation strategies he did not always appreciate. Close to Mr Reynolds, he was less comfortable with Bertie Ahern but was a strong supporter of Brian Cowen. Relations with Mr Martin were not close.
He had expressed an interest in running for the presidency in 2011, but the idea was not warmly received by Mr Martin, then seeking to rebuild the party after its disastrous 2011 general election, when the party lost more than 50 seats in the wake of the financial crisis.
Mr Crowley retired from politics in 2019 before the European elections. He had come under pressure as he had not attended the parliament at all since 2014 owing to deteriorating health. He had undergone an operation in 2014, expecting to quickly recover, but complications ensued and he remained in hospital for long periods of time.
He was expelled from the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party in 2014 after he declined to switch groups to the liberals in the European Parliament in accordance with party policy, but always said he remained a proud member of the party.
He had suffered continued ill health in recent years.
