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THE STANDARDS IN Public Office Commission (SIPO) has explained why it ordered Amnesty International to return a donation made by billionaire George Soros for its My Body My Rights campaign.
Sipo said current legislation governing donations to political groups forces those who receive donations over €100 to register as a third-party. The Electoral Act also bans foreign donations from an individual other than an Irish citizen who resides outside the island of Ireland – meaning Soros’ €137,000 donation did not meet the criteria for an acceptable donation.
The law also states that a “donation from a body corporate or unincorporated body of persons which does not keep an office in the island of Ireland from which one or more of its principal activities is directed” is also prohibited.
The ban has seen both sides of the abortion debate to agree on one thing – that the rules ought to be changed.
Yesterday, Colm O’Gorman, chief executive of Amnesty International said he wanted the laws changed.
He told the Today with Sean O’Rourke show on RTÉ: “We will consider every opportunity to challenge this decision. I have repeatedly made it clear that we will challenge this. We gave complete details to Sipo about the purpose for which we received this. We responded in detail and clarified the amount and what we were going to do.”
David Quinn of the conservative Iona Institute agreed with O’Gorman and added: ““I will join Colm in campaigning to change the Electoral Act, I am happy to see the Electoral Act changed, but, in the meantime, you’ve got to obey it and not hold yourself above it and there also there can’t be double standards in how organisations are treated as to how they go about trying to raise money.”
A spokesperson for Sipo explained that the purpose of these bans is to protect against interference by foreign individuals in Ireland’s domestic political processes, including elections and referendums.
Prohibited donations must be refused or returned.
Last year, Sipo received information that several Irish organisations had received donations from a foreign donor. At the time, it made inquiries and received assurances from the recipients that the donations were not for political purposes.
The commission’s spokesperson explained that it received information that the donations were for political purposes.
“The commission sought and received written confirmation from the donor that the funding was for explicitly political purposes. As it is the intent of the donor that determines whether a donation is a political donation, the funding very clearly fell within the Act’s prohibitions. The Commission has issued directives to the recipients to return the prohibited donations. ”
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Oh no they let everyone that showed up and was eligible to vote vote!
what a muppet
Winners are grinners and losers can please themselves
And failed…. It’s already been thrown out
The wig-alert has more money than sense, thank good he lost the election too
Thin skinned cry baby cheetoh jesus. He doesn’t want minorities voting, and this is who the alt-right maggot trolls on here want as leader of the free world.
Let’s not be too harsh on the “great unwashed” without them who’d do the jobs no one else wants
Come on Trump! The world needs you.
What the flip for?
@Dave Harris: He’s not afraid of speaking his mind. He’s the only American politician I’ve heard that will mention Dominic Sheehan. That’s just one example.
@Qwerty:
Who?
Querty You really think he’s “not afraid to speak his mind ”
bless
Donald Trump says whatever he thinks will get him votes
You know who else wasnt afraid of speaking his mind? Adolf! Thats who
If you’ve ever utter the sentence “He’s not afraid to speak his mind.” You’re as dumb as shite.
He doesn’t believe in democracy really, only when it goes his way. He refused to accept Obama, as he said he wasn’t born in the USA. When Obama was reelected Trump called for a March on Washington as he didn’t accept the result. He threatened not to accept it if the republican party didn’t nominate him. He’s already saying this election is rigged and brought this court case even though clearly, there was nothing wrong with the procedures followed. He’s a nut job at best, a potential tyrannical despot at worst.
@Charlie Fogarty: He’s a human rights activist that was detained without charge in China last year.
@Qwerty: FREE DOMINIC SHEEHAN!
How much was he before ?
The only mention of Dominic Sheehan anywhere online is from you in a different journal comment section. http://c.jrnl.ie/5425724 That’s a link to the comment. He keeps changing his story claiming all trace of the name is scrubbed from Irish internet traffic. Sounds like bull to me.
I had to read that comment thread from bottom to top through that link. Don’t know why
@Liam Mc Loughlin:
AND from ACturnbull. You conveniently omitted that fact. I was desperately trying to explain to air heads how easy it is to censor things online. You’re most likely another shill being paid to discredit us. The truth will come out!
#freedominicsheehan
@Qwerty: Cheers. The movement definitely needs more online presence.
#FREEDOMINICSHEEHANFFS!
Qwerty, you know ow when you talk about paid shills you just sound ridiculous and paranoid right?
Funny, that quote is identical to one that went viral on Facebook last week. I mean word for word.
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