Sinn Féin claims that it only spent €7,500 On It's Local Election Campaign Is An Egregious Untruth

Election posters are expensive.

Fionnan Sheahan has an article in the Irish Independent this week where Sinn Féin claims it spent just €7,500 nationally on its local election campaign, which has been queried by the local election returning officer. Responsibility for setting out the rules nationally to the parties and taking returns for the local elections is assigned to Dublin City Council.

We also have something known as the Standards In Public Office (SIPO). A toothless political party finances transparency watchdog. Like a lazy dog that raises only an eyebrow when something unusual happens, SIPO operates much in the same fashion. That’s the legislator’s fault, though, for not giving them the power to do anything substantive to punish political parties for lying, misleading or engaging in very suspicious behaviours. Guess which political party has been engaging in very suspicious behaviours again? Go on, have a guess.

The Irish Independent article states;

After reviewing the Sinn Féin returns, the official in charg…