Patrick O'Connor pleads guilty to providing false information under Companies Act

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Patrick O'Connor pleaded guilty to one count of providing false information under the Companies Act, relating to a date in 2022. The proceedings were reported on 24 June 2025.

The court heard that he forged his co-directors’ signatures on an A1 form filed with the Companies Registration Office in October 2022 while setting up a Wicklow glamping business.

The court heard that Corporate Enforcement Authority officers discovered the signatures while investigating a separate Companies Act matter. O'Connor told investigators that his co-directors knew he was signing for them; each co-director confirmed that the signature attributed to them was not theirs. The company did not trade.

Defence counsel Darren Lalor said O'Connor had made a “foolish mistake”, but that it was not his intention to defraud anyone.

Judge Orla Crowe said there were troubling aspects to the case, including O'Connor’s role as a Peace Commissioner, the forging of two directors’ signatures and the fact that one co-director had been disqualified from acting as a company director. She adjourned the matter for finalisation to 9 July.