The transparency of Friends of Sinn Féin’s returns exceeds legal requirements, the party’s national treasurer has said.
Jonathan O'Brien was responding to The Irish Times report on Thursday that Sinn Féin raised $12 million (€10.7 million) from some of America's biggest construction companies, trade unions, Hollywood stars and small donors in a 20-year fundraising effort across the United States.
Close to 15,000 donations were received by Friends of Sinn Féin, the party’s US fundraising arm, between 1995 and 2014.
The party’s national treasurer Jonathan O’Brien defended the fundraising efforts.
Fully disclosed
He said the party had always called for the highest levels of transparency in party funding and said that all the accounts and donations of Friends of Sinn Féin had been fully disclosed.
“The transparency of the returns exceeds the legal requirements.
“The vast majority of money raised in the US stays in the States to promote the peace process and the cause of Irish unity.”
Mr O’Brien said that US involvement had been central to the peace process since the mid 1990s.
"The story in The Irish Times details 20 years of fundraising. The very transparency of our fundraising has made evaluation easy. But I would ask, why couldn't the same level of scrutiny be brought to bear on 20 years of fundraising Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil?
"Let's not forget those 192 individuals who owe the State €62 billion in banking debt. What portion of those individuals donated to Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil parties in the past two decades?
“I look forward to five pages of coverage in The Irish Times dedicated to the funding of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, which no doubt would prove less transparent, but far more revealing,” he said.
‘Played dumb’
Labour Party TD Derek Nolan contended that Sinn Féin's finance spokesman Pearse Doherty had "played dumb" on Thursday, when asked about how much of the funding raised in the US was spent in Northern Ireland.
Mr Doherty had been interviewed on the Today programme on RTÉ Radio 1 about the Irish Times reports. Speaking after the interview, Mr Nolan, a Deputy for Galway West, said it was “incredible” that he could not detail how the money raised in the US had been spent.
He said Mr Doherty was “uncharacteristically sheepish” on the issue and it was deeply concerning.
Fianna Fáil justice spokesman Niall Collins said there needs to be "more scrutiny" of Sinn Féin.
‘Staggering amount’
“It’s a staggering amount of money - $12 million,” he said.
“It is inconceivable to believe, or for someone to ask you to believe, that that money isn’t being used to influence or to engage in political activity in this jurisdiction. The rules are obviously different in Northern Ireland.
“We have seen the recent BBC spotlight documentaries in terms of questionable activities by Sinn Féin and others, the drawing of expenses from Stormont and how they used various cultural and historical society vehicles to move money and rent properties.
“We need to have the same degree of transparency in Northern Ireland that you have here, and indeed accountability.”
