Wallace earned almost €500 a month as an ‘adviser’ to wine bars

Mick Wallace had come under pressure to clarify his relationship with the Wallace Calcio chain.

Ireland South MEP Mick Wallace earned up to €499 a month as an advisor to a chain of wine bars and restaurants, a revised declaration of his financial interests reveals.

Mr Wallace had come under pressure to clarify his relationship with the Wallace Calcio chain after he recorded a video with an Italian MEP in which he said he "has three wine bars".

The former Wexford TD had not declared any occupations on his original filing upon his election in 2019, but has now added an advisor's role in a category 1 remuneration bracket, meaning he earned up to €499 per month from the company in the three-year period up to his election.

However, Mr Wallace's Dáil declarations from that period make no mention of any work with the company, which is part-owned by his niece. Mr Wallace did own a number of businesses before bankruptcy in 2016. Mr Wallace's comments came in a TikTok video posted by right-wing Italian MEP Alessandro Panza.

In the video, Mr Wallace states: “I have three wine bars in Dublin and I sell only Italian wine and I import all the produce from Italy.”

He is introduced by Mr Panza as a producer of wine in Italy but has never declared ownership of a vineyard on his EU declarations.

Mr Wallace sits on the European Parliament's Environment, Public Health and Food Safety committee which has oversight of the laws around hospitality. The omission has caused some concern in the Left group of MEPs of which he is a member. French MEP Manon Aubry said that the omission was "unacceptable".

Ukraine

The former Independent TD has broken from his EU grouping before, most notably on the issue of Ukraine.

In October, the parliament debated a motion which called for harsher sanctions and increased military support for Ukraine, but also called for countries to "massively increase their military assistance" to allow Ukraine to regain full control over its entire internationally recognised territory and "successfully defend itself against any further aggression by Russia". 

The resolution passed with 504 votes in favour, 26 against and 36 abstentions, with Mr Wallace and Clare Daly supporting an amendment which "regrets the absence of EU diplomatic initiatives".

Mr Wallace and Mr Panza had been discussing an Irish move which has been a “direct attack” against Italy, which exported a record €8bn worth of Italian-made wine last year, representing more than half of the country’s €14bn wine industry.

It follows the EU’s approval of Ireland’s plans to introduce the labelling section of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act which sets out mandatory labelling requirements for all alcohol products — including wine, beer, and spirits — sold in Ireland.

The approval came despite opposition from nine countries, including France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal — all major wine producers.

Mr Wallace has been contacted for comment.