NORTHERN IRELAND’S SMALLER parties have spent significantly more money on Facebook ads ahead of the 5 May Assembly election, with Alliance, the SDLP and UUP outstripping Sinn Féin and the DUP.
In the last 30 days, the Alliance Party has spent more money on both Facebook and Instagram ads than all other political parties in Northern Ireland, with the SDLP close behind.
Alliance has spent over £10,000 (€11,800) on election advertising on the social media platforms, while the SDLP has spent over £7,000 (€8,300).
It comes as a seismic poll in The Irish News yesterday put Alliance neck and neck with the DUP to receive the second-highest share of first preference votes and become the second largest party.
The figures, detailed within Facebook’s Ad Library, show that over £30,000 (€35,500)has been spent by the five main parties between 2 April and 1 May.
The Facebook Ad Library was created by the platform as part of an effort to increase transparency around advertising, particularly around elections.
Current Northern Ireland election spending rules say that parties cannot spend more than £306,000 (€362,500) if they are contesting seats in all 18 constituencies. For smaller parties not contesting every constituency, the limit is £17,000 (€20,100) multiplied by the number of constituencies the party is contesting.
This spending includes items bought by the party, including advertising, both online and in print.
Despite smaller parties spending more across the entire election campaign, both Sinn Féin and the DUP are outspending them in the final days of the campaign
Sinn Féin
In the last seven days, Sinn Féin has spent £4,790 (€5,674) on Facebook ads across two separate Facebook pages.
Their main page, Sinn Féin Ireland, spent £3,280 (€3,885) on election advertising in the week from 24 April to 30 April.
A smaller page, Sinn Fein Assembly Election, has spent £1,550 (€1,836) on Facebook election advertising in the last seven days.
When asked by The Journal why Sinn Féin was using two pages for election advertising ahead of the Assembly election, the party said that it was due to a technical issue as the party works within two jurisdictions.
“In order to overcome that, a new account was set up in the north,” said a Sinn Féin spokesperson.
“During the campaign the issue with the main party account was resolved. We have therefore run ads from both accounts.”
In the last 30 days of campaigning, the party spent £5,670 (€6,716) on both Facebook and Instagram ads. In recent days, their ads have focused on the party having the largest number of seats in the Stormont Executive after the election, so they are able to nominate deputy leader Michelle O’Neill as First Minister.
Democratic Unionist Party
In the last week of campaigning, the DUP are the party spending the most money on election ads.
The party has spent £6,360 (€7,533) on both Facebook and Instagram ads in the seven days up to 1 May.
In contrast, the party spent £7,370 (€8,729) on both Facebook and Instagram advertising between 2 April and 1 May
The main focus of their recent advertising has been around garnering support to block Sinn Féin from becoming the largest party, saying that Sinn Féin would seek to further plans for a border poll.
Facebook and Instagram ads that began running on 3 May show former DUP leader and First Minister Arlene Foster encouraging unionists to vote for the party.
Foster was ousted as leader in April 2021 after party MLAs and MPs signed a letter that voiced no confidence in her leadership, leading to Edwin Poots’ election as leader, before he was ousted and replaced by Jeffrey Donaldson three weeks later.
Alliance Party
The Alliance Party has been the biggest spender of the overall campaign, forking out £10,300 (€12,199) on both Facebook and Instagram advertising between 2 April and 1 May.
Of that, £4,370 (€5,176) was spent on both Facebook and Instagram ads between 25 April and 1 May.
Their most recent advertising has focused on individual election candidates in constituencies, with advertising showing previous election results and saying that the party’s candidates would be able take seats in constituencies where traditional parties are vulnerable.
One such advert says that the party missed out on a seat in North Belfast by 500 votes and encouraged people to give a number 1 to their candidate to ensure they take a seat.
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The SDLP were the second-highest spenders across the campaign, spending £7,960 (€9,427) between 2 April and 1 May.
While they were outspent in the last week of the campaign by both Sinn Féin and the DUP, they spent £4,430 (€5,247) between 25 April and 1 May.
Their recent advertising, similar to Alliance, focused on tactical voting and called for voters to give the SDLP their number 1′s to beat the DUP to final seats.
Their most recent ad, active from today, is from the BBC Leaders’ Debate which focused on the SDLP’s planned response to the increasing cost of living in Northern Ireland.
Ulster Unionist Party
The UUP has had the lowest spending on Facebook and Instagram advertising throughout the entire campaign, with £3,100 (€3,672) being spent between 2 April and 1 May.
In the seven days between 25 April and 1 May, the party spent a total of £1,400 (€1,658) on adverts for Facebook and Instagram.
Recent active adverts have focused on healthcare, with Health Minister Robin Swann appearing in one advert calling for voters to entrust the UUP to rebuild the NHS.
Voters will be able to cast their ballots in the Stormont Assembly election tomorrow, with polls to close at 10pm while counting begins on Friday.
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