Candidate Calls for Publication of Election Costs

Sinn Féin's local election candidate in East Meath, Sinead Burke, has announced that she will be making her election expenses public in the week after polling day on June 5th, and has called on all other candidates in Meath and Louth to do likewise.

She said, "I think it is vitally important that we introduce a new degree of transparency, honesty, integrity and accountability in politics, not just nationally, but locally. That is why, whatever the outcome of the election, I have committed to publishing my election expenses on my blog sineadburkesblog.blogspot.com and on the Meath Sinn Féin website www.meathsinnfein.ie. I am calling on all other candidates to do likewise.

"The spending limits introduced recently by Minister Gormley have gone some way to levelling the playing pitch as regards election spend, but they still leave a huge opportunity for massive spends by local candidates. The notion of any candidate spending anywhere close to the €13,000 limit in the current climate is grotesque. We need to get to a situation, in Ireland, where we rate our candidates on merit and merit alone, not on who has the greatest circus."