Sinn Fein almost equalled Fianna Fail in the total from donations over £4,000 it u£4,000 received last year, new figures show.
The figures, published yesterday by the Public Offices Commission, reveal that political parties received u£500,000 in donations over u£4,000 in 1999.
Sinn Fein declared donations totalling u £182,456, u (£81,436 and $117,185) during last year, just behind Fianna Fail which received a total of u £202,135 in donations u (£123,687 and $78,448.)
Next on the list is the Labour Party which disclosed u £51,121 in donations followed by the Green Party with donations of u £19,750, the Socialist Party with u £16,000 and Fine Gael with u £14,842. The Progressive Democrats had no declarations of donations of more than u £4,000.
Under the Electoral Act 1997 parties are required to disclose donations which exceed u £4,000. It is estimated that parties collectively received donations totalling 1 1/2 million pounds last year.
The breakdown on donations and donors published yesterday reveal that many companies and individuals gave cash gifts totalling exactly u £4,000. This amount would not have been declared if it was not totalled with other amounts given by the companies or individuals.
The Fianna Fail declaration statement shows that the party received 28 donations from either a company or individual last year. Of the total u £202,135 declared by Fianna Fail, $91,000 came from the US in several donations of mostly $10,000 cheques. The highest donation of u £12,000 came from Mr Sean McEniff in bank transfers. Fianna Fail also received u £8,941 from Nissan Ireland for the use of a car and u £9,500 from Doyle Hotels for the use of an apartment and profit from a fund-raising event.
Most of the total Sinn Fein donation - $117,184 plus u £3,710 - came from Friends of Sinn Fein in the US while Friends of Sinn Fein in Australia contributed a total of u £61,476.
The Labour Party received most of its total donations from SIPTU, which gave u £38,721.
Fine Gael received donations over u £4,000 from three sources - Barry's Tea, Yeoman Asset Finance and O'Callaghan Hotels.
The largest individual contributor was Deputy Caoimhghin O Caolain who made donations of u £16,250 to Sinn Fein. Deputy Joe Higgins made donations totalling u £16,000 to the Socialist Party.
A number of other elected representatives also made donations to their political parties.
The Public Office Commission also released details yesterday of spending by political parties of Exchequer funding which was paid out under the Electoral Act for 1999.
Seven political parties shared a total of u£1,028,511.