His father Bernard Cowen was a TD, Senator and Minister of State. His grandfather Christy Cowen was an Offaly County Councillor and a member of the Fianna Fáil National Executive. He is the brother of former TaoiseachBrian Cowen.
He is married with four children and is a full-time politician.[4]
In July 2020, it emerged that Cowen had a conviction for drink driving. Cowen was fined €200 and was disqualified from driving for three months. The incident occurred in September 2016, after an All-Ireland football final between Dublin and Mayo. Cowen apologised for his "serious lapse of judgement".[7][8] The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission was asked by the Gardaí to investigate the alleged leaking of information concerning Minister for Agriculture Barry Cowen's drink driving arrest. Cowen accused gardaí of criminality for leaking allegations that he attempted to evade a garda checkpoint before he was caught drink driving. Cowen admitted receiving a ban for drink drinking but denied attempting to evade gardaí. He issued a statement that the garda record was "incorrect" and suggested he would take legal action against the Sunday Times, which first reported the story. Cowen said that the leaks were a flagrant breach of criminal law and “my rights under data protection law” and that they were an "attempt to cause me the maximum personal and political harm."[9] Fianna Fáil TD Thomas Byrne has denied that it was he who leaked news of Cowen's ban to the press.[10] Eamon Dooley, a long serving Fianna Fáil member of Offaly County Council, claimed that a party member with a "grudge" leaked it to the media.[11]
On 14 July 2020, after he refused to resign the role of Minister for Agriculture, Cowen was sacked by Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, due to the controversy surrounding his conviction for drink driving.[12][13] In November 2020, it was reported that a barrister was to be questioned by GSOC in relation to the leak.[14] In 2021, GSOC searched a Garda station in Munster in relation to the leak.[15]
In July 2021, Cowen called on Fianna Fáil to form a new "modern centre-left" alliance with the Labour Party for the next election.[16]
In March 2023, political news website The Ditch reported that Cowen had failed to declare rental income from 32 acres of farmland, in breach of Standards in Public Office Commission rules.[17] Cowen subsequently confirmed that he intended to correct his declaration to the Dáil Register of Interests. [18]
In 2023 he opposed extending the eviction ban put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, comparing an extension to "making sweets free for children". These comments caused controversy and he subsequently apologised for the remarks.[19]
In 2024, Cowen won the Fianna Fáil nomination to stand in the 2024 European Parliament election in the Midlands–North-West constituency, defeating senators Niall Blaney and Lisa Chambers at the selection convention.[20] Blaney and Chambers were both added to the Fianna Fáil election ticket later.[21] Cowen was elected to the second of five seats in the constituency.[22] He took office on 17 July 2024.[23]
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