An unprecedented political controversy has seen a party marking its expanded number of TDs go from a celebration to a shambles in less than six hours and suspending one of those deputies before the Dáil had sat for the first time since the general election.
Who is Eoin Hayes and why is he in the news?
Eoin Hayes (37) pipped Sinn Féin incumbent Chris Andrews to the final seat in Dublin Bay South in last month’s general election, less than six months after being elected to Dublin City Council for the Social Democrats in the Kimmage-Rathmines ward.
Born in Limerick, he lived in Pennsylvania in the US until he was 14. He returned to Ireland and completed a degree in chemical engineering at UCC, and a masters in management at London Business School, before heading back to America to work.
He returned to Ireland in 2018 and started a consultancy firm, Cantillon Labs, advising small businesses and start-ups, mainly software and technology companies, on their finances.
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However, a story in the Irish Daily Mail last week about his past employment, and shareholding in a software company, sparked controversy.
What company did he have shares in?
Between 2015 and 2017, when based in New York, Hayes worked for Palantir Technologies, a data firm cofounded by billionaire Peter Thiel with investment from the CIA. The company built programmes to mine data including social media posts, phone and internet records, providing companies and governments with controversial surveillance technology.
Its offering expanded to supplying AI technology to businesses and armies including the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). This software, used in Gaza, has the capacity to identify specific targets for drone attacks and air strikes.
As part of his salary package, Hayes received shares in the company.
What did he say about it?
After he was elected to the council in June, Hayes made a declaration of assets, which said he had divested from all holdings “within the last 12 months”. The form was dated June 26th, before he sold his shares. The party said it was an “unfortunate typo” as he had not submitted the form until July 24th after he sold the shares.
During a shambolic press conference on Tuesday, Hayes, under persistent questioning, repeatedly said he had sold the shares before he entered politics, but declined to say exactly when and for how much.
He said “as soon as I became aware that Israel had very close relationships with that company I divested”.
However, after the press conference, he issued a statement in which he admitted this was “not true” and apologising unreservedly.
He said he worked in “areas like HR and IT” for Palantir and “had absolutely no role in anything related to any military contracts, for the Israeli military or anyone else”.
“As part of my salary package, I was provided with shares. The conditions attaching to those shares meant I was unable to sell them until 2021, six months after the company had gone public.
“Throughout the course of the past year, Palantir’s support for the Israeli military has markedly increased. In January, the company signed a new strategic partnership with the Israeli Defence Ministry. I should have sold my shares then and I deeply regret that I did not.
“I had 7,000 shares in the company, all of which dated from my employment nearly a decade ago, and sold them in July 2024 for a pretax figure of €199,000.”
What did the Social Democrats do about it?
After Tuesday’s press conference, Hayes issued the statement clarifying what had actually happened. Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan then issued his own statement, saying: “Eoin provided incorrect information to the media when he stated he had sold his shares before he entered politics . . . This is a serious matter which the party is now reviewing.”
An hour later, in another statement, O’Callaghan, who had defended Hayes at the press conference, said Hayes’s initial explanation about selling the shares before entering politics “was not true”.
“This is a serious matter. It is imperative that the media, who hold politicians to account on behalf of the public, can rely on the information they receive from elected representatives,” he said. “For that reason, Eoin Hayes has been suspended from the Social Democrats parliamentary party with immediate effect.”
What are the consequences?
Hayes remains a TD and will sit as an Independent when the Dáil returns next week. In a third statement, issued late on Tuesday evening, he said he hoped “to earn back the trust of the Social Democrats and will work hard to do so”.
The party has given no indication of how long the suspension will last, but the unprecedented incident has seriously damaged the party’s reputation.
When Hayes went through the party candidate selection and development process, he said he was upfront about his shareholdings. The party will have strengthen its selection processes and ask more detailed questions about such matters in future.
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