How much does it cost to run a General Election campaign in Waterford?
Election posters on Rice Bridge in Waterford City. Photo: Hugh Dooley
The General Election… 'Every time I look around, it’s in my face.'
Everywhere you go in Waterford, from atop a telegraph pole to the bottom of your mailbox, a political candidate’s face is looking back at you. It would be fair to wonder, then, how much do those posters and pamphlets cost?
“This is going to be the most expensive campaign yet at the rate things are going,” one General Election candidate said to Waterford News & Star, “the major parties must have a poster on every side street in the county”.
The candidate urged the News & Star to do the maths on how much the other candidates are spending, so we have!
Independent candidate Killian Mangan shared his campaign finances with the News & Star, giving an insight into the cost of an independent’s general election campaign.
In total, Mangan has spent €5,051.65 so far in the campaign, generating €2,115 in donations via GoFundMe - €1,957.97 of which has been paid out so far - and €200 in miscellaneous donations.
Even with the €61.50 Mangan saved by collecting his posters, those numbers do not balance out, with the majority of Mangan’s campaign costs being funded by loans from his family (€1,500) and from him personally to his campaign (€700).
His costs are driven by an order of 100 standard-size election posters costing roughly €15 each, amounting to €1,500.60 in total and nearly 30% of his overall campaign expenses.
This cost, he says, has increased significantly since he contested the local elections in June. He had purchased 60 posters for that campaign, each costing less than €10, and was shocked by the cost inflation in the last six months. 10 of his old posters went missing following the local elections; Mangan says he hopes they adorn the walls of student residences. The leftover posters allowed him to save money in this election.
Another politician recently told the News & Star that he had entered the shed of a constituent during a recent canvass to find his own face staring at him, with his posters being used to board up some structural wear and tear!
Mangan’s other costs (figure 1) are largely made up of €1,000 of local newspaper advertising, graphic design costs (€595), the €500 deposit independent candidates have to submit to get on the ballot, and printing the Litir um Thoghchán (letter of election) at a cost of €848.98, for which each candidate gets free postage from An Post in their constituency.
Printing election pamphlets (€420.67) and miscellaneous costs of €38.85 parking fees round up his total campaign spend.
Like many candidates, Mangan is hoping to hit the threshold to have his campaign expenses reimbursed by the electoral commission – up to €11,200 can be reimbursed to candidates. To meet the threshold, however, Mangan must reach a vote tally of more than 25% of the quota for the constituency. Going off the 10,752 vote quota in 2020, he would need to receive 2,688 votes.
Mangan isn’t the only candidate with a GoFundMe campaign, however. At least five candidates have started online public funding campaigns. Furthermore, most party candidates running would have generated campaign funding from their local branch members in addition to getting money from their national parties themselves.
At date of publication, the total money fundraised by Waterford candidates is at €8,727, the majority of which has come through Labour candidate Sadhbh O'Neill, who alone has generated €5,497 in donations.
Non-party candidate Aaron Joyce has raised €635, while Social Democrat Councillor Mary Roche has raised €470. True to the party name, People Before Profit candidate Patrick Curtin has raised just €10 in crowdfunding.
Explaining his decision to display his finances, Mangan said, “As a candidate who is proudly independent, financial transparency – and all types of transparency – is incredibly important when you are running for election.”
“Ireland has really strict electoral finance rules but still allows candidates in Waterford to spend nearly €50,000, whereas that money just isn’t available for independent or smaller party candidates.”
He urged other candidates to be more transparent in their electoral finances during the election to give voters an idea of “how much money is behind a candidate as they decide if they may or may not support them.”
One candidate, who is representing a smaller Dáil party, said they expected their overall spending to come in around €10,000, having kept over posters from the previous election, which helped to offset the costs.
They also mentioned the rising cost of election posters and said the recency of the local election had hit the pockets of some of the smaller traditional parties.
Another candidate, representing a party of a similar size, said they were running their campaign on a significantly restricted budget due to the same factor.
The disparity in the number of posters each candidate could afford to print was highlighted by many candidates, one politician laughed that printing the number of posters that Fine Gael Senator John Cummins had in a single housing estate would bankrupt them.
SIPO returns show that the senator spent €17,710 in his general election campaign last time out, as one of two candidates for the party in Waterford; running solo in 2024, this sum could rise.
In 2020, current independent candidate Matt Shanahan spent nearly €14,000 on his successful election campaign, and current Minister Mary Butler spent just over €15,000 on hers.
Whatever happens on Friday, one thing looks likely, this election campaign could be the most expensive yet.
'How bizarre!'
