Fianna Fáil has defended its campaign in the Lisbon Referendum after it emerged it spent less than a quarter of what Fine Gael spent on commercial advertising.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Michéal Martin said Fianna Fáil decided to invest most of its Referendum budget on posters and leaflets rather than advertising.
The Irish Times has published the amounts that different parties and groups spent on commercial advertising - in newspapers, on billboards and buses, and so on.
The figures show Fianna Fáil spent just under €115,000 worth of advertising, compared to over €130,000 by Labour, and €485,000 by Fine Gael.
The figures also show that Libertas took out more commercial advertising than all the parties combined.
A Libertas spokesperson said this cost them less than the full commercial value of €912,000 because of discounts, but the lead over the political parties is striking.
Of course money does matter in politics, whether it is spent on advertising, or posters, or leaflets - but research suggests that by far the most effective way of getting a vote is asking for it, face to face, through canvassing.
And a Sunday Business Post poll after the Lisbon referendum showed that a massive 86% of voters were not contacted by either side.
