SINN Fein continues to be the richest political party in the Province – by a country mile.
The republican organisation raked in more than both the main unionist parties and the Alliance Party combined.
The figures show that the party enjoyed its second-biggest budget year in nearly a decade.
Its total funding for last year was £1.27m, of which around £1.16m was spent.
The data has just been published by the Electoral Commission, which records party political donations and expenditure across the whole of the UK.
Not only does it show that other parties still trail Sinn Fein in terms of financing, but it also shows that the DUP had a bumper year – with an income around twice as high as usual in 2011.
Meanwhile, the Ulster Unionists continued to feel the squeeze, registering their lowest income since 2003.
The Alliance Party appeared to have overstretched itself slightly, with outgoings exceeding income last year by around £50,000.
For 2011, the SDLP’s income was £429,941 against £339,858 spent. The DUP’s income was £615,052 with two sets of figures provided by the Electoral Commission showing expenditure ranging from £193,226 to £444,125.
The UUP income was £353,583 against £345,274 spent and the Alliance was £201,520 against £251,575 spent.
The release of party finances comes at the same time as a renewed call for the main political players in the Province to come clean about their funding arrangements.
Northern Ireland is unique in the UK as the only place where big donors cannot be named.
Some lobbyists, like environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth, claim that this refusal to disclose which rich individuals are giving money to which parties leaves Ulster’s politicians vulnerable to accusations of conflicts of interest.
In mainland UK anyone giving more than £7,500 to a political party is put on a public register.
But in Ulster their names and the size of their donation – despite being recorded – are hidden from public view unless individual parties opt to voluntarily reveal it.