Jul 05
“Labour want US style political advertising” It wasn’t the biggest ever story, but the Sunday Times liked it enough to pay me for it. It even got a bit of social media traction at the time. And it was based on three lines at the end of an internal RTÉ memo. In May 2010, a …
Jun 21
Following yesterday’s report in the Irish Independent about Sinn Féin’s use of expenses to pay for party workers, both SIPO and the Oireachtas Commission are looking at the party’s finances. Readers will recall I probed the issue on several occasions last Autumn, starting with the Average Wage Question. SIPO didn’t see any reason to act …
Feb 13
A week back, I wondered about the contradiction between two items I came across online. On the one hand, Kerry TD Brendan Griffin was reported as saying he had handed back half his salary, and would continue to do so. It took just five minutes to do so, he told the Irish Times. On the …
Jan 20
Sitting in my inbox for a while now has been a letter from SIPO, along with various records of politicians’ expenses, all revolving around the issue of Sinn Fein and the “average industrial wage”. On Friday, Pearse Doherty published a set of accounts on the Donegal Daily website, which makes it time to revisit the …
Oct 18
While I wait for Sinn Féin TDs and senators to get back to me, and consider my response to SIPO’s recent communications, a little something to tide you over if you’ve been following the “average wage” saga. Here’s a Sinn Féin press release about MPs’ expenses: “Sinn Féin MPs, like all party members who are …
Oct 15
A chara, I am a freelance journalist, and recently I’ve been spending some time looking at the practice of Sinn Féin TDs and Senators where they “draw down” an average industrial wage, and the balance (less taxes) is spent on constituency services, which I understand to mean constituency office workers, based on my inquiries to …
Oct 14
During the lengthy wait between my first questions to Sinn Féin about the average wage and their reply, I wrote to SIPO. I asked the Standards Commission to look into inconsistencies between Sinn Féin statements and reporting requirements. “If a TD decides to spend part or all of his/her salary on the provision of constituency …
Oct 07
On Monday 18 September, I addressed some questions to Sinn Féin about their “average industrial wage” claims, and the amounts their TDs donated to their party. In the three weeks since then, I’ve posted several times on the issue, and Sinn Féin’s compliance with SIPO regulations. This evening, I received the reply below from the …
Oct 05
Martin McGuinness published bank statements today, showing he only takes £1605 from Sinn Féin each month. The accounts give some fascinating insights into his shopping behaviour. Who knew the deputy first minister was such a fan of Asda? And while his fondness for TK Maxx might be understandable, it’s difficult to picture him browsing through …
Oct 02
A chara, In light of the statement by Martin McGuinness on Newstalk this morning regarding his income, that he is “willing to allow my bank account to be opened and I’m sure Sinn Fein are willing to allow their bank accounts to be opened to show that that is the case“, could I bring to …
