# New fundraising rules for Irish parties announced

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2006/01/30/new-fundraising-rules-irish-parties-announced/
- Published: 2006-01-30T00:00:00+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Northern Ireland’s political parties will still be able to raise funding abroad
but not receive donations under new electoral rules to be introduced next year. 
Parties can receive individual donations of more than £5,000 from people in the 
UK or the Republic but in future this has to be declared to the Electoral Commission.**

The donor details will be kept confidential for security reasons and only UK nationals
and Irish citizens will be entitled to donate.

These new rules come into operation from October 2007 and will certainly have an
impact on any political party which currently receives large donations from the 
United States.

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However, the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) has confirmed to The Irish News that 
these new rules only apply to donations and not fundraising.

Therefore if for example politicians from the north speak at fundraisers in the 
US their parties can still receive that funding. Sinn Féin, the SDLP and, in more
recent years the Ulster Unionists, all fundraise in the the United States. Sinn 
Fein has a particularly strong fundraising operation in the United States.

NIO minister with responsibility for political development David Hanson said the
government was clear that there needs to be more effective regulation of donations
to political parties operating in the north to bring arrangements into line with
Britain.

He said they also recognised the need to take account of the legitimate concerns
that have been expressed about the potential risk of intimidation of donors and 
to ensure that “the special place of Ireland in the political life of Northern Ireland
is respected”.

“We are therefore planning for legislation that will require political parties to
notify the Electoral Commission of donations over £5,000 but provide for donor details
to be kept confidential. UK nationals on the electoral register and Irish citizens
will be entitled to donate,” he said.

“This will take effect in October 2007. The legislation will also provide for an
opportunity to move to full transparency in October 2010 if the circumstances allow.”