Surge in donations for Fianna Fáil while Fine Gael’s funding drops

IF MONEY makes you popular, then Fianna Fáil should be the most successful political party in the country.

The Soldiers of Destiny have seen a dramatic surge in the amount collected through membership fees, donations and fundraising, collecting just over €1.2m last year, up almost 28pc as the public helped restore the party’s financial fortunes.

Sinn Féin has also seen a sharp rise, while Fine Gael has suffered. Annual statements of accounts from all political parties in the State, released by the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo), show Sinn Féin collected almost €340,000 across the 26 counties in 2016, up 26pc year-on-year.

While Fine Gael collects the most money, it is losing ground. It received just under €13,250 in donations last year, down 54pc; there was a drop in fundraising income which fell by 3.4pc to €711,664, while membership subscriptions dropped by 5.6pc to €405,105, or just over €24,000 in a year.

Conversely, Fianna Fáil saw an increase in donations to just over €79,000, up almost 17pc; in fundraising which rose by almost €146,000 to €769,760 (up 23.4pc) and in membership subscriptions which increased by €111,056 to €383,429, or 40.8pc. There was a similar story for Sinn Féin, but the increase was largely driven through a spike in donations which increased by a whopping €81,362 to €101,577, an increase of 402pc.

The accounts also show that membership subscriptions fell in the Labour Party, down by 28pc to just over €117,000, while overall income collected by the Greens fell to almost €55,000. AAA/People before Profit collected just over €18,000, the Social Democrats almost €31,400 and the Socialist Party almost €120,000.

Fine Gael said it was forced to introduce a “swift and significant” cost reduction programme due to a drop in the number of members returned following the election, which returned Enda Kenny to office but resulted in a drop in Oireachtas members.