Sinn Fein NI's wealthiest party

Sinn Fein is the wealthiest and highest spending party in Northern Ireland.

It had an income of £1.12m and spent £1.15m in 2008, according to the Electoral Commission.

The SDLP had an income of £291,931 and spent £290,169. The Ulster Unionist Party's income was £383,504 but it spent £397,734.

Details of the DUP's finances were published last month. The party filed four sets of accounts, none of which exceeded £250,000.

The Electoral Commission has published last year's financial accounts of 11 UK political parties with gross income or total expenditure of at least £250,000.

Small surplus

The SDLP posted a small surplus in its annual accounts after slashing operating costs.

The party had sunk into the red in 2007 with operating losses of £130,000 but the latest accounts reveal a surplus of about £1,700.

I'm glad to see that Northern Ireland political parties have appreciated this need for transparency and submitted their accounts to us within the statutory deadline Seamus Magee Electoral Commission

A spokeswoman said the fall in the party's income from about £660,000 was partly due to the credit crunch and because the party had not engaged in as much fundraising.

She said the party was pleased it was not in debt, although it retains an overdraft of about £100,000.

The party has cut its spending and increased its income from membership fees.

The Ulster Unionist Party revealed ahead of the publication of the figures that its losses had been cut from £400,000 in 2007 to about £14,000 last year.

The party reduced operating costs by £100,000 and cut debt by £300,000, partly due to the selling of a 20% stake in its east Belfast headquarters and moving to smaller premises.

Seamus Magee, Head of the Electoral Commission's Northern Ireland office, said transparency in the way democracy is funding was more important than ever.

"I'm glad to see that Northern Ireland political parties have appreciated this need for transparency and submitted their accounts to us within the statutory deadline," he said.

Accounts

Figures released last month show the DUP's Westminster parliamentary account had a healthy surplus of about £60,000 while the assembly accounts were slightly in the red.

However, its general accounts show it spent more than it raised last year, so there is a deficit of about £80,000. Donations were down from £190,000 to about £11,000.

Its North Antrim constituency office has more than £100,000 in its balance sheet after selling its property on Hill Street in Ballymena. It spent £25,000 towards refurbishing offices in Church Street.

Jim Allister's Traditional Unionist Voice had a surplus of about £46,000 last year. Accounts filed before the European election show the party took in about £70,000 from donations and fundraising activities.

Alliance was just over £5,000 in the black as part of its electoral fund, while the Green Party had a bank balance of about £40,000 at the end of last year.