DUP intends to reveal Brexit campaign donor details

Mr Donaldson said the party wants to be “as open and transparent as possible” and is currently working with the Electoral Commission in a bid to publish donor details.

He said: “We are looking into it at the moment with the Electoral Commission.

“We will make our position clear once we have gone through all of the issues with the Electoral Commission.”

Earlier his party colleague Edwin Poots expressed hope that the information would be available as early as Thursday.

Pressure has been mounting on the DUP to reveal how the cash was raised for a costly Brexit campaign.

More than a quarter of a million pounds is believed to have been spent by the party to promote their leave Europe message.

As part of that campaign they paid for an expensive four page ‘Vote To Leave EU’ advertisement in the British Metro newspaper. The paper is available in London and other cities, but not in Northern Ireland.

DUP leader Arlene Foster has admitted that the party received donations after registering as a Leave campaigner.

However, when pushed for details about the donors during a recent UTV pre-election debate, she would only say: “From an organisation in England that wants to see the Union kept and make sure we can have a United Kingdom.”

Donations to political parties in Northern Ireland are kept confidential for fear of identifying donors. But other political parties have demanded that the DUP clarify who funded its “lavish” pro-Brexit advertising campaign.

Alliance party leader Naomi Long said that Secretary of State James Brokenshire has the power to publish details of political donations and urged him to do so.

A UK Government spokesperson said the Secretary of State is “keen to make progress” on the issue but that it would not be before the March election.

The spokesperson said: “The Secretary of State wrote to the Northern Ireland parties in January 2017 seeking their views on moving to full transparency.

“He remains keen to make progress on this issue and is currently considering responses received from the parties. An announcement on a way forward will not take place until after the election, in line with the usual pre-election protocols.”