Donor left €4.7m to Sinn Féin to ‘spite UK government’
:: Party uncovers riches in banks across the world
THE estate of the eccentric millionaire who has already benefited Sinn Féin to the tune of £2m (€2.3m) is worth at least twice that amount, it has emerged.
Last month the party received another huge donation of almost £500,000 from mysterious English benefactor William Hampton, who previously gifted the party £1.5m.
But it is now following up a number of leads involving more than two dozen bank accounts globally, and believes the ultimate value of the estate is £4m – or about €4.7m.
The revelations emerged on RTÉ’s ‘Prime Time’ which looked at Mr Hampton’s life and legacy in detail.
His friend Rosalind Morton said: “He did it to spite this [UK] government and that was his total reason and that’s how he would put it: Stuff this bloody government, I’m going putting my money into the IRA.”
It was claimed that after Mr Hampton was cremated in Wales, Sinn Féin treasurer Dessie Mackin flew back to Ireland from Cardiff Airport carrying Mr Hampton’s ashes in a shoebox in one hand and a briefcase of crucial documents in the other.
It emerged last night Mr Hampton had a troubled family history as he had lost both of his parents to suicide,
decades apart.
Rosalind Morton, a retired care worker, originally met Mr Hampton in a psychiatric unit in Kent, where she was also recovering from a family tragedy.
“There was always a sadness about Billy,” she said.
Her husband Dave Morton said: “He was a good friend of ours, a nice bloke. He just used to turn up. We had no way of contacting him. He was on the road so much, going to different countries.”
It also emerged Mr Hampton spent some years in the 1990s living in a caravan in Cootehill, Co Cavan.
Local barber Sean Foy recalled that youths were throwing stones at the vehicle at night, forcing Mr Hampton to move to a different spot near the county bridge with Monaghan.
Mr Foy said Mr Hampton parked at that new spot for two years before moving on.
In Monaghan, Mr Hampton frequented the Round House bar which was owned by former Sinn Féin councillor Owen Smyth.
Mr Smyth had been charged with a “human bomb” attack on a British army checkpoint in Fermanagh which happened on November, 1990, but was cleared as he had an alibi – he was in his bar at the time.
Mr Smyth remembered Mr Hampton as “very small, slightly eccentric in his manner and mannerisms” and with an English accent.
“He knew who I was and what my politics was and he wanted to find out more,” he told RTÉ.
He also recalled taking Mr Hampton to meet Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness at the Cavan-Monaghan count centre in 1997. “He did enjoy it, I have to say, there was a smile from ear to ear,” he said.
Mr Smyth told how Mr Hampton ultimately began planning making a will and leaving money to Sinn Féin. He says he told the chief of staff of the IRA, Kevin McKenna, who lived in Monaghan at that time.
Sinn Féin has a different account and said Mr Hampton first made contact in the winter of 1996, asking to meet party treasurers. Legal advice was sought and several meetings took place.
He later left his entire estate, apart from a few small sums to named individuals, to Sinn Féin. Mr Adams was specifically named in his will.
In January 2018, Pembrokeshire County Council called Sinn Féin, looking for Joe Cahill or Dessie Mackin.
Mr Cahill was dead but Mr Mackin returned calls to be told Mr Hampton had passed away in Wales.
This began the process which solicitor Padraig Ó Muirigh acknowledged was like “all of Sinn Féin’s Christmases coming at once”.
Mr Hampton had a substantial estate, including three properties in the UK as well as a house in Carlow and €150,000 in Irish bank accounts.
It emerged Mr Hampton had more than two dozen bank accounts worldwide – including with Bank of Ireland, Barclays, Credit Agricole in France, Bank of China and ANZ Bank in New Zealand.
Upon further investigation, some were found to be empty but there was £900,000 in just one bank account in Singapore – more than €1m.
Mr Ó Murigh; “We had to liaise with all those banks. We had to do property searches to ascertain if he had any interest or other assets. So that took a period of time, it took a number of months to do that.
“When we had the actual verification from the banks right up to date, there was disbelief,” he said.
Asked if he was confident that he had found all of Mr Hampton’s assets, Mr Ó Murigh replied: “Well, what I can say is that we have carried out all of those searches and followed all those leads that we could.
“Can I be 100pc certain? I don’t know. Probably not.”
A bank account in Casablanca has yet to be investigated.
Mr Ó Muirigh said the media had demonised Mr Hampton recently.
“He was someone who obviously had some mental health issues but there is absolutely no evidence in relation to his mental capacity,” he said.
Mr Hampton was 82 years old when he died last year in a nursing home of respiratory failure.
‘Very small, slightly eccentric and with an English accent’