Sinn Féin must have thought all its Christmases had come at once when it was first alerted to the story of William ‘Billy’ Hampton.
The republican movement has spun the extraordinary tale of his €4.7m bequest as one about the kindness of strangers.
Mary Lou McDonald reckons the party’s greatest benefactor was a “rebel with a cause” who had made a “very robust statement against the political establishment”.
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“He [Hampton] obviously saw in Sinn Féin an organisation that is full square for Irish unity, for progress and for peace and prosperity in Ireland but also a party that stands full square against the political establishment,” she theorised.
But it’s hard to ignore the reality that the schizophrenic 82-year-old had wanted to leave his millions to Gerry Adams and the political wing of the IRA – rather than a peace movement.
Since Hampton died in a Welsh nursing home last year, following a lifetime of mental health issues, Sinn Féin’s lawyers have scoured the globe trying to find the full value of his unlikely donation.
Last August it was believed the windfall amounted to €1.6m – but that has more than doubled as more bank accounts and property were discovered in Ireland, the UK and New Zealand.
Based on what Hampton told his few friends the final figure could be as much as £7m, the political equivalent of scooping the EuroMillions jackpot.
It’s a historic case of one man’s paranoiac spite becoming a political party’s humongous financial gain.
During the week, RTÉ’s ‘Prime Time’ revealed a tale of intrigue that somewhat jars with the official Sinn Féin narrative that Hampton was dedicated to the party.
Veteran Republican Owen Smyth befriended him in the 1990s when the mysterious Englishman arrived in Monaghan in the converted old ambulance that he called home.
Smyth said he believed that the chips on the donor’s shoulder about his native country were his primary motivation, commenting: “We could have been a hook for him to hang his coat on.”
Hampton’s friend Rosalind Morton also recalled why he left his money to the republican party: “He did it to spite this government, that was his total reason – and that is how he would put it – ‘I’ll stuff this bloody government; I am going to put my money into the IRA’.”
McDonald didn’t answer questions this week about whether the party might see fit to give some of the money to charity. It is the season of goodwill after all.
Instead she reminded everyone that the windfall was “within all of the rules and regulations and will be spent within the rules and regulations”.
In fairness, there is not a political leader in the world who would not love to be in Mary Lou’s shoes on this issue and it is indeed all legal.
But it does focus attention on the complex finances of a “socialist” party that is considered to be one of the richest in Europe, especially one that its leader proclaims to be “against the political establishment” and on the side of the hard-pressed poor working class.
In fact, one could quite reasonably, on a casual perusal of its track record, accuse the party of being very fond of money.
It also shows up the republican party’s rank hypocrisy as it is happy to use existing UK legislation with regard to political donations so that it will not have to pay a penny in tax – money that could be used to help house homeless families and alleviate poverty.
Under UK law, Sinn Féin is not liable to pay tax there because it has two or more MPs elected to the House of Parliament, albeit that they have never actually taken their seats there.
Hampton wanted to fund a war chest – he has in the electoral sense.
Read more: ‘Stuff them’ – mysterious English donor left €4.7m to Sinn Féin to ‘spite UK government’
Read more: Eccentric millionaire’s estate will benefit Sinn Féin to the tune of €4.7m
Source: Read Full Article
Home » Analysis & Comment » Paul Williams: '€4.7m gift to Sinn Féin not out of kindness, but out of spite'
Paul Williams: '€4.7m gift to Sinn Féin not out of kindness, but out of spite'
Sinn Féin must have thought all its Christmases had come at once when it was first alerted to the story of William ‘Billy’ Hampton.
The republican movement has spun the extraordinary tale of his €4.7m bequest as one about the kindness of strangers.
Mary Lou McDonald reckons the party’s greatest benefactor was a “rebel with a cause” who had made a “very robust statement against the political establishment”.
Please log in or register with Independent.ie for free access to this article.
Log In
New to Independent.ie? Create an account
“He [Hampton] obviously saw in Sinn Féin an organisation that is full square for Irish unity, for progress and for peace and prosperity in Ireland but also a party that stands full square against the political establishment,” she theorised.
But it’s hard to ignore the reality that the schizophrenic 82-year-old had wanted to leave his millions to Gerry Adams and the political wing of the IRA – rather than a peace movement.
Since Hampton died in a Welsh nursing home last year, following a lifetime of mental health issues, Sinn Féin’s lawyers have scoured the globe trying to find the full value of his unlikely donation.
Last August it was believed the windfall amounted to €1.6m – but that has more than doubled as more bank accounts and property were discovered in Ireland, the UK and New Zealand.
Based on what Hampton told his few friends the final figure could be as much as £7m, the political equivalent of scooping the EuroMillions jackpot.
It’s a historic case of one man’s paranoiac spite becoming a political party’s humongous financial gain.
During the week, RTÉ’s ‘Prime Time’ revealed a tale of intrigue that somewhat jars with the official Sinn Féin narrative that Hampton was dedicated to the party.
Veteran Republican Owen Smyth befriended him in the 1990s when the mysterious Englishman arrived in Monaghan in the converted old ambulance that he called home.
Smyth said he believed that the chips on the donor’s shoulder about his native country were his primary motivation, commenting: “We could have been a hook for him to hang his coat on.”
Hampton’s friend Rosalind Morton also recalled why he left his money to the republican party: “He did it to spite this government, that was his total reason – and that is how he would put it – ‘I’ll stuff this bloody government; I am going to put my money into the IRA’.”
McDonald didn’t answer questions this week about whether the party might see fit to give some of the money to charity. It is the season of goodwill after all.
Instead she reminded everyone that the windfall was “within all of the rules and regulations and will be spent within the rules and regulations”.
In fairness, there is not a political leader in the world who would not love to be in Mary Lou’s shoes on this issue and it is indeed all legal.
But it does focus attention on the complex finances of a “socialist” party that is considered to be one of the richest in Europe, especially one that its leader proclaims to be “against the political establishment” and on the side of the hard-pressed poor working class.
In fact, one could quite reasonably, on a casual perusal of its track record, accuse the party of being very fond of money.
It also shows up the republican party’s rank hypocrisy as it is happy to use existing UK legislation with regard to political donations so that it will not have to pay a penny in tax – money that could be used to help house homeless families and alleviate poverty.
Under UK law, Sinn Féin is not liable to pay tax there because it has two or more MPs elected to the House of Parliament, albeit that they have never actually taken their seats there.
Hampton wanted to fund a war chest – he has in the electoral sense.
Read more: ‘Stuff them’ – mysterious English donor left €4.7m to Sinn Féin to ‘spite UK government’
Read more: Eccentric millionaire’s estate will benefit Sinn Féin to the tune of €4.7m
Source: Read Full Article