Sinn Féin has spent €91,000 on advertising with online platforms over the past four months as the general election loomed, more than the other political parties combined.
Overall, the main political parties, including Sinn Féin, have spent a combined sum of €162,168 on online advertising since August.
Meta – which owns Facebook and Instagram – and search giant Google have online tools that offer information on political advertising including expenditure.
The spending on advertising on Meta platforms covers the period from August 10th to November 7th.
Sinn Féin has spent €78,300 with Meta during that time.
It spent a further €12,850 on Google Ads over August, September, October and November, bringing its total spend to €91,150.
Eight other parties combined have spent €71,018 – the majority of which was with Meta.
Fine Gael has the next highest spend overall – €46,000 – which comprises €41,000 spent with Meta and €5,000 with Google Ads.
Fianna Fáil has spent €14,100 with Meta and €50 on Google Ads.
The figures are for spending by parties and do not include spending on ads that individual candidates are paying for.
Asked about the higher level of spending by Sinn Féin compared to the other parties, a statement from the party said: “This election is about a clear choice between more of the same under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, or a vote for change with Sinn Féin.
“In this election campaign, we are bringing this message to voters and setting out the change Sinn Féin would deliver to end the housing crisis, transform healthcare, cut childcare costs and ensure people get a break from the cost of living crisis.
“We are bringing this message to voters through online advertisements, as well as meeting people in communities through canvasses, community engagement, posters and public meetings.”
Other spending by parties with Meta includes Labour (€4,700), the Social Democrats (€2,700), Independent Ireland (€1,500), People Before Profit (€1,200), Aontú (€762) and the Green Party (€6).
The Green Party spend was on six ads that began running on Facebook since Monday.
The most recent figures for spending with Meta are from last Thursday and subsequent spending by the Green Party is likely to appear when figures are updated on Meta’s Ad Library tool.
A Green Party spokesman said it “does not accept corporate donations or trade union contributions so it has a smaller campaign budget than most other parties.
“We have relied on regular social media during the summer but we are spending money on advertising during the campaign and have spent several thousand euro since the campaign began on Friday.”
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
- Sign up to our Inside Politics newsletter to get the behind-the-scenes take direct to your inbox
