NI parties to hold talks on public finances with Chris Heaton-Harris

In the absence of ministers, departments are being led by senior civil servants with limited powers.

Mr Heaton-Harris set a budget earlier this year amid challenging financial circumstances, with Stormont having two years to pay off an almost £300 million overspend.

On Monday the parties will gather at Hillsborough Castle for a meeting with Mr Heaton-Harris on how to address the province’s finances going forward.

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein and the SDLP have accepted more in donations and public funds than the other local parties in recent months.

Sinn Fein received the largest sum, accepting £294,257 in the third quarter of 2023 according to the Electoral Commission.

The SDLP accepted £129,511, the DUP accepted £92,494, Alliance accepted £47,438, the UUP accepted £16,232, the Conservatives accepted £7,369 and the TUV accepted £6,767.

The total of £594,067 compares to £481,149 accepted in the same period in 2022 (July to September).

Cahir Hughes, head of the Electoral Commission in Northern Ireland, said it has recommended that government introduces laws around donations.

“Over half a million pounds of donations were accepted by political parties in Northern Ireland in three months. We know that voters are interested in where parties get their money from, and this publication is an important part of delivering this transparency for voters,” he said.

“However, it’s clear that publishing this information is not enough. We’ve seen for some time that public confidence in the transparency of party and campaigner finance across the UK is declining.

“We continue to recommend to the UK Government that it introduces laws to help protect parties from those who seek to evade the law and give voters more confidence in the process by requiring more checks on the identity of donors.”

Political parties have to submit quarterly donation and loan returns to the Electoral Commission.