Donations to local parties more than double after devolution

The Belfast Telegraph has drawn attention to the fact that private donations to Northern Ireland's four main political parties soared to over £700,000 in 2007. This could have been because people were keen to ‘invest’ in the political process now that devolution is working. The Telegraph also drew attention to the fact that unlike their counterparts in Britain and the Republic, parties here are permitted to keep the identities of donors secret.

The Belfast Telegraph has also trained its eyes on MLAs renting offices from their own political parties using their allowances from Stormont.