Cullen donated at least €34,570 to Fianna Fáil over five years
The frontman for TV3’s The Apprentice, who was in the firing line himself last weekend as a member of the remuneration committee at the DAA, donated at least €34,570 to the party between the 2002 and 2007 general elections.
In 2007 the company he then owned, Glencullen Distributors Ltd, signed over €13,610 to the party.
This included a €2,500 donation to Mary Hanafin’s campaign, which had already been revealed.
The extent of his largess emerged in documents released by the Companies Registration Office (CRO) under the Freedom of Information act.
These listed all returns filed between March 2009 and March 2011 by companies which fulfilled their obligation to list donations for political purposes. The list contained 13 donors to Fianna Fáil, who together contributed €40,475 to the party or its candidates.
The largest single amount came from Mr Cullen’s company. Glencullen’s accounts prior to 2007 showed that it had recorded three previous sizeable donations to the party in 2003 (€5,630), 2004 (€6,000) and 2005 (€9,330).
According to the CRO database, Fine Gael had six separate donors who donated a total of €5,050.
A notable donor to both parties was Persian Properties, which trades as O’Callaghan Hotels. It was in the spotlight earlier this year when it became the first employer to attempt to lower workers’ pay in line with the temporarily reduced minimum wage.
In 2008, Persian Properties donated €2,000 to Fine Gael and €7,000 to Fianna Fáil. In 2009, it gave €1,750 to Fine Gael and €2,500 to Fianna Fáil.
Elsewhere, food giant Glanbia gave €5,000 to Fianna Fáil’s campaign to get the Lisbon Treaty passed and a separate €6,000 donation to the non-party Ireland for Europe campaign.
Dublin Central TD Joe Costello was the sole Labour TD mentioned, as he received €950 from Dargan’s Chemist in 2008/ 2009.
Parties cannot accept any donation which surpasses a threshold of €6,348.69. In the past, a number of donations to Fianna Fáil have gone over this limit.
A statement from Fianna Fáil said it was satisfied Mr Cullen’s donations were properly accounted for.
“The Fianna Fáil party has discharged all of its disclosure requirements in respect of all monies received from Glencullen Distributors Limited,” read the statement. “We are happy that we are in full compliance with the said legislation governing political donations.”
“The amount disclosed in the Glencullen Distributors Ltd B1 form comprises the gross donation by that company to the party and public representatives in 2007. As is standard practice with certain types of donations, the party applied a discount to cover costs. This is in line with standard practice and is as allowed for in the SIPO guidelines governing these matters.”
