Friends of Sinn Féin in US raise over $2m in last five years

The Friends of Sinn Féin organisation in the United States has generated more than $2 million in fundraising over the last five years.

Some of that money has been used to pay for advertisements in US publications such as the New York Times and Washington Post around St Patrick’s Day, urging support for the Good Friday Agreement and calling for a date for a referendum on Irish unity.

The funding raised by Friends of Sinn Féin in the US is also used to pay for the travel expenses of senior party figures who visit Washington and other parts of the United States for meetings with key political and other figures on several occasions each year.

Records show, however, it has also had to meet considerable fundraising expenses – of over $200,000 (€183,754) in one six-month period.

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Mark Guilfoyle, president of Friends of Sinn Féin, told The Irish Times that its role was to “disseminate public information and engage in advocacy about the need for justice, human rights, self-determination, democracy and a lasting peace throughout the island of Ireland”.

“In recent years, this has meant advocacy for protecting the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process. We provide a platform for Sinn Féin representatives to carry this message to civic groups, elected representatives, Irish American organisations, US media and academia and political leaders of all political persuasions.”

“We raise money through fundraising events such as an annual dinner or a golf outing. We also raise money online and some online donors make recurring donations.”

The organisation is provided with rent-free office space in New York by a building company known as Eurotech Construction Corp whose co-founder is Fay Devlin, a long-time supporter of the party who is originally from Co Tyrone.

Mr Guilfoyle said it did not publish overall accounts but did file returns on a six-month basis to the US department of justice. These essentially set out its income and expenditure for the period as well as details of meetings.

[ US arm of Sinn Féin spends €110,000 on Irish unity newspaper adverts ]

He said the organisation did not transfer money to the Republic of Ireland.

The department of justice filings show that in April 2022, it sent $54,645 to meet Sinn Féin expenses in Northern Ireland. This was in advance of the Northern Ireland Assembly elections in May.

Friends of Sinn Féin’s fundraising efforts were boosted by a windfall of $394,010, which it received from the estate of Lauren Harvey, a woman who lived in Arizona and who died in a crash in November 2020. A park planner by profession, she was a regular visitor to Ireland and named her home Connemara Ranch.

The most recent official filing with the department of justice – for the six months to the end of April this year – show that the Friends of Sinn Féin generated $22,000 in fundraising as well as a further $17,000 in small dollar donations. This included $2,000 from the Fitzpatrick Manhattan Hotel.

The overall amount raised is considerably less than the $461,000 generated in fundraising in the six months to October 2022.

Mr Guilfoyle said this was largely a timing issue.

“That is our historical experience for the November-April report because our fundraising events are held during the May-October reporting period. In addition, travel expenses were higher than usual during the most recent reporting period because our level of engagement in the US has been off the charts,” he said.

Friends of Sinn Féin had “ample resources to carry out our programme of work,” he said.

The most recent filing shows that the Friends of Sinn Féin paid out $118,126 to newspapers for advertisements/promotions.