[5] He again topped the poll for Fine Gael at the 2004 Monaghan County Council election, notably finishing ahead of party colleague Heather Humphreys, a future Member of Cabinet.
[8] In November 2015, McElvaney resigned from Fine Gael in protest at how the party dealt with the North/South Electricity Interconnector issue in Cavan and Monaghan, specifically in relation to the perceived lack of engagement by Heather Humphreys with the local Anti-Pylon Committee.
[10] In May 1996, while on an official five day visit by Monaghan County Council to the twinned province of Prince Edward Island in Canada, McElvaney was cautioned by airport police in Boston after he was alleged to have been disruptive on an Aer Lingus flight and became abusive to airline staff after being refused alcoholic drinks.
In a written statement, McElvaney admitted he had been involved in a regrettable "incident" during the flight and wished to "apologise unreservedly for any offence caused by me to my fellow passengers or to Aer Lingus staff".
On their return to Dublin Airport, some of his County Council colleagues were quoted as being embarrassed by McElvaney's behaviour, however Fianna Fail councillor Willie McKenna downplayed the incident and said he believed the entire episode was blown out of all proportion by the media.
[1] At a subsequent face-to-face meeting in a local hotel, McElvaney was recorded on video as saying he was "only fooling" that he was looking for £10,000, however he went onto say he wanted "loads of money" if the project was a success,[13] adding: "I am the conduit between your investment company and Monaghan County Council.
[17][18][19][20][21] In April 2018, the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) announced that McElvaney would face an ethics hearing that September as part of its response to the programme, to determine if he had contravened provisions of the Local Government Act 2001 and the Code of Conduct for Councillors.
[22][23] In September 2019, the High Court in Dublin dismissed a judicial review launched by McElvaney in an effort to prevent the SIPO investigation from proceeding, citing the inability of his legal team to cross-examine the fictitious "Nina Carlson" regarding his claim of being entrapped by RTE.
However, the response of the McElvaney to what was said, specifically if it "amounted to a request for remuneration or reward for anything to be done by virtue of his office as an elected member", was relevant to the SIPO investigation, thus the court dismissed the application in its entirety.