Concern over political donation mystery

DURING the Troubles, and their aftermath, some of the Stormont parties maintained that fully disclosing all their financial donations would leave supporters open to the prospect of intimidation and worse.

While it was certainly possible to put forward such arguments, much greater levels of transparency were in place for good reasons at Dáil Éireann and The House of Commons.

As a sense of normality returned to our society after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the need to review the regulations covering benefactors became overwhelming.

Particular concern surrounded the DUP's acceptance during the 2016 EU referendum campaign of a £450,000 donation, most of which went on a four-page advertisement for Vote Leave in the London-based Metro newspaper even though the title only circulates in Britain where the party has never fielded candidates.

There was also much debate last year over the decision by an English market trader to leave £1.5m in his will to Sinn Féin, who insisted the bequest was in line with all protocols.

Legislation eventually went through Westminster in March 2018, requiring gifts of over £7,500 to be declared by Northern Ireland parties but only from the previous July onwards.

It emerged yesterday that the Electoral Commission has investigated two separate political donations relating to Stormont but was unable to decide if rules had been broken in either case and was legally prevented from disclosing any further details.

The Alliance Party acknowledged that it was the subject of one of the investigations, when contacted by the BBC, and said it related to a councillor who had taken a trip which was paid for by the US government.

Alliance said the member had notified his district council about the visit but did not realise it also had to be registered with the Electoral Commission, and the matter had since been rectified with an apology issued.

However, public confidence in the wider process has been undermined by the reality that the second probe remains a complete mystery as each of the parties presently represented at the Assembly denies any involvement.

The onus must now be on all the same groups to agree that an entirely unacceptable state of affairs has arisen, and further legal measures extending the remit of the Electoral Commission should be approved without delay.