Independent Senator Aubrey McCarthy has, in recent weeks, featured in social media posts next to his furniture store and cafe, The Elms Home & Living outside Naas in Co Kildare, promoting an “absolute clearance sale”.
The furniture side of the business is winding down and the shop’s Instagram videos include McCarthy highlighting how the store has “knocked €1,000 off” a cabinet and sofas.
The food offering – billed on The Elms’ website as “the best gourmet cafe in Kildare” – is to remain in operation.
The Elms Home & Living is on farmland owned by the businessman and philanthropist.
RM Block
The assets are declared in McCarthy’s first return to the Seanad register of interests since winning a seat in the upper House of the Oireachtas in last year’s election.
It is the most extensive declaration made by any Senator for 2025, according to the register, published in March.
The record reveals, over three pages, an extensive list of business, property and other interests that show McCarthy to be one of the wealthiest politicians in the Oireachtas and perhaps the wealthiest in the Seanad.
Definitive estimations of wealth are difficult to make as the rules governing declarations to the register of interests do not require politicians to include the monetary value of shareholdings or land and property, nor the level of earnings from other occupations or income streams.
However, it is clear from the register that, alongside his involvement in several charitable and community organisations, McCarthy also has considerable business interests.
McCarthy (54) was elected to the Seanad last year, winning a seat on the University of Dublin panel, the electorate of which comprises graduates from Trinity College Dublin.
McCarthy’s ongoing involvement with Tiglin – where he remains a board member – is included in his register-of-interests return, along with seven other roles described as voluntary and unpaid
A graduate of the university, McCarthy ran unsuccessfully for the Seanad in a 2022 byelection to fill a seat left vacant when Labour’s Ivana Bacik was elected to the Dáil.
He decided to run then “because the lessons I have learned through my work need a strong voice in the Oireachtas” and “we need to focus on inequality but also on solutions that make sense and get results”.
Running again last year, he won the final seat on the panel.
Later in 2025 he expressed an interest in running for the presidency, but ultimately did not enter the race.
In his Seanad declaration, he lists his occupations as “public representative” – a nod to his role as Senator; “company director” covering commercial and charitable organisations; and “lessor”, another word for landlord.
On his website, McCarthy describes himself as a businessman and social entrepreneur and tells of how he was “born into a family that faced the challenges of addiction and deprivation”.
It says he “understands the transformative power of opportunity” and that “through determination and education, he not only overcame adversity but also dedicated himself to helping others do the same”.
The website says he worked in London at the age of 16, saved money, and later returned home to found AMC Removals, “an award-winning removals and storage company now employing over 40 people”.
In his return to the register, he declares ownership of shares and a directorship in this business.
“His difficult upbringing inspired a passion to advocate for those affected by poverty, marginalisation and addiction,” his website states.
In 2008, McCarthy founded Tiglin, a charity dedicated to helping people struggling with addiction and homelessness.
McCarthy’s ongoing involvement with Tiglin – where he remains a board member – is included in his register-of-interests return, along with seven other roles described as voluntary and unpaid.
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These include chairman roles with the South Western Regional Drug and Alcohol Task Force; the Tivoli Training Centre for marginalised people in Dún Laoghaire; Dublin Christian Mission Outreach, the organisation behind the Light House, a cafe and service for homeless people in Dublin city centre; and Bluebell Community Council in Dublin, among others.
His return also lists several shareholdings and directorships in relation to commercial organisations.
Senators are only required to declare shareholdings with an aggregate market value in excess of €13,000. McCarthy did not answer a query on whether all of his shareholdings are worth more than this sum.
In his declaration he listed shares with Allied Irish Banks plc; Bank of Ireland Group plc; and California-based Alphabet Inc, the tech giant parent company of internet search engine Google.
In one of the Instagram videos posted by The Elms in recent weeks, McCarthy gives a brief history of the family business, saying his father and grandfather bought the farmland in 1967 and later pivoted to opening an antique shop
McCarthy also listed shares and directorships in his own companies AMC Capital Fund Investment Holdings Ltd, The Elms Home & Living Ltd, and The Elms Furniture Ltd.
In one of the Instagram videos posted by The Elms in recent weeks, McCarthy gives a brief history of the family business, saying his father and grandfather bought the farmland in 1967 and later opened an antique shop.
“Then in 2008 we changed it because antiques were going out of fashion,” he says.
“As times change, The Elms has always changed” and “we’re changing again”, he says.
The Kildare Now website last month reported on the winding down of the furniture side of The Elms Home & Living, and that McCarthy suggested a new business will evolve that could include a wellness centre.
In response to queries from The Irish Times, McCarthy said “the business was losing money” and the “tough decision” was made to reduce the furniture business.
“Unfortunately, times are changing,” he said, and “the reality is the people are buying online”.
The Senator has three entries in the land and property category of his declaration, including ownership of the farmland at Punchestown outside Naas where The Elms Home & Living is located.
Land Registry papers show that the land comprises just over 16 hectares, or 40 acres.
“My grandfather and father were farmers and it is still used as farmland today,” he said of the land.
He did not respond to questions on whether he farmed the land himself or whether he was leasing it out.
In his register-of-interests return, McCarthy also lists a “letting” property in Monkstown, south Dublin, that he co-owns with a business partner. He confirmed it is still being rented out.
The final entry in the property category of the declaration of interests is a building he co-owned with his brother Fergal at Long’s Place in Dublin city which is also listed as “letting”.
The building includes eight residential units. They were sold for almost €2.5 million in April 2025, according to a report in the Business Post.
In response to queries on the property, McCarthy said it was sold “with all tenants in situ”.
He said the property was rented to Dublin City Council in about 2016, and when this arrangement ended, he said, “I approached other approved housing bodies to see if they would take it on but they refused.”
He said it was subsequently rented to workers during the week and was used for Airbnb short-term letting at the weekends. The property has not been used for short-term letting since 2018, he said.
“I also gave free use of two units to homeless individuals during that time,” he said.
“Through various charities, I have worked to provide housing and support for up to 200 people, helping them rebuild their lives with dignity and hope.”
McCarthy lists “accommodation recognition payment for hosting refugees from Ukraine” under the “contracts” heading in his return.
The accommodation recognition payment – introduced after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – is a tax-free payment of €600 a month for each property used to provide accommodation to Ukrainian refugees.
McCarthy did not respond to a question on where he had been accommodating Ukrainian refugees, nor offered an estimate of the total sum he has been paid under the scheme.
In the gifts category of his register declaration, McCarthy declared “honorary life membership” of the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.
The declaration says this was “awarded in 2024 for relentless efforts to enhance the lives of society’s most marginalised individuals”.
