US construction firm among donors who gave Sinn Féin €300,000 in six months

The Friends of Sinn Féin organisation in the United States generated nearly $320,000 (€300,000) in fundraising in the six months to the end of October, new official figures show.

The returns, filed with the US department of justice, reveal the organisation receiving funding from nearly 100 donors.

The largest individual contribution recorded in the six-month period was for $15,000 from the Eurotech Construction Corporation in New York.

The records indicate that many donors to the Friends of Sinn Féin organisation are in the building/construction sector.

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The previous official filing with the department of justice – for the six months to the end of April this year – showed that the Friends of Sinn Féin generated $22,000 in fundraising as well as a further $17,000 in small dollar donations.

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

Earlier this year Mark Guilfoyle, president of Friends of Sinn Féin, told The Irish Times that this lower level of funding reported was largely a timing issue as it held many of its fundraising events later in the year.

The Irish Times reported in June that the Friends of Sinn Féin organisation in the US had 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 Belfast 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 US for meetings with key political and other figures on several occasions each year.

Mr Guilfoyle said 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.”

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