FRESH official figures confirm Sinn Féin received a further tranche of £500,000 from the man believed to be Northern Ireland's biggest ever political donor.
The donation from the late Billy Hampton, a former market trader who previously bequeathed Sinn Féin £1.5 million, is included in figures published yesterday by the Electoral Commission.
In all, eight political parties registered in the north received £869,000 collectively in the three-month period between the beginning of July and the end of September this year.
All the funds bar the aforementioned donation from Mr Hampton and £7,500 from the Joseph Rowntree Trust to the Alliance Party, were from public sources such as the House of Commons Department of Resources and the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Sinn Féin's total donations amounted to £586,000, while the DUP received £191,000.
The SDLP benefited from £21,750 of donations and the Ulster Unionist Party from £23,500.
Alliance's donations totalled £27,500, while the TUV's were £6,700 and People Before Profit's £4,500.
