Northern Ireland

Sinn Féin gets another £800,000 tranche from posthumous donor Billy Hampton

SINN Féin has received another tranche of the record-breaking donation from a former market trader, the Electoral Commission has confirmed.

The latest donor figures from the electoral watchdog covering the first three months of the year reveal that the party received £800,000 from the estate of Englishman Billy Hampton on February 10.

Sinn Féin has previously received two separate tranches of £1.5m and £500,000 from the late Mr Hampton, who died in Wales in 2018, aged 82.

His ashes were later buried in west Belfast in a "solemn ceremony" attended by Gerry Adams.

His memorial stone in Hannahstown Cemetery reads: "True friend of Ireland. Remembered by his friends and comrades in Sinn Féin."

Mr Hampton, who up until his death lived in a camper van and travelled extensively, was bequeathed his money by his businessman father Ted.

He made his will in 1997 when he was living in a caravan in Co Cavan. The executors and trustees were former IRA chief-of-staff Joe Cahill and fellow senior republican Dessie Mackin.

There has been speculation about Mr Hampton's mental health, with one former friend who spoke to the press in 2019, claiming he left the money to Sinn Féin "out of spite" and "to say 'up you' to the British establishment".

The party's president Mary Lou McDonald described the benefactor as a "rebel with a cause" who shared Sinn Féin's goals.

The Electoral Commission separately reported that the Alliance Party received £12,500 between January and the end of March from total donations to all the north's parties of just over £1m.

Billy Hampton's memorial in Hannahstown Cemetery. Picture by Mal McCann
Billy Hampton's memorial in Hannahstown Cemetery. Picture by Mal McCann Billy Hampton's memorial in Hannahstown Cemetery. Picture by Mal McCann