What started as a breakthrough moment for the Social Democrats – a first-time Dáil candidate winning a seat at the expense of a veteran Sinn Féin TD – has turned into a nightmare before Christmas for the party.
Eoin Hayes’ victory in Dublin Bay South in November’s general election has been tainted in the wake of the Palantir scandal.
Hayes worked for the Peter Thiel-owned company between 2015 and 2017, and as part of his employment, was entitled to shares in the company.
Hayes was unable to sell his shares in the company until 2021 but did not prior to his entry into politics.
Palantir signed a contract with the Israeli Defence Forces in January 2024 to develop AI for usage on the battlefield.
At a media plinth in Leinster House on December 10, what was supposed to be a victory lap for the party and their 11 TDs quickly turned into a crossfire where Hayes insisted he had sold his shares in the company prior to his election to Dublin City Council in June.
It later transpired that Hayes did not sell his shares until July, a month after his election to Dublin City Council.
When Hayes sold his shares in the company, the stock was worth €200,000, at odds with Hayes’ self-described image as a “life-long renter” who had a GoFundMe page for his local and subsequent general election campaign.
At 2:51pm on the afternoon of December 10, deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan said the issue was a “serious matter,” and by 4:09pm, Hayes was suspended from the party.
O’Callaghan said “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,” later saying he was “embarrassed,” by the situation.
“To say I am embarrassed about what happened would be an understatement; I’m very angry about the way this happened.”
Hayes will sit in the Dáil as an independent when the Dáil meets on December 18.
The sub-text of Hayes winning the final seat of Sinn Féin TD Chris Andrews, a long-term ally of the Palestinian cause, has not been lost on many.
Andrews, who wore a Palestine jersey in the Dáil chamber when outgoing American president Joe Biden visited in April 2023, lost his seat at the expense of Hayes.
In 2010 and 2011 Andrews was part of a flotilla which delivered aid to the Gaza Strip alongside fellow Sinn Féin member Aengus Ó Snodaigh.
In the Dublin Bay South race, Hayes ended up elected with 7,017 preferences compared to Andrews’ 6,294; a difference of 723.
Sinn Féin’s director of elections Matt Carthy asserted “I firmly believe that if the electorate of Dublin Bay South were aware of the information that we are aware of today that Eoin Hayes would not be a TD, and that Chris Andrews, somebody who has a long-standing record in support of the people of Palestine as well as the people of Dublin, would be.”
“There are a number of political parties, Sinn Fein being one, and the Social Democrats being another, who have been very clear and unequivocal in terms of our position of those who profit through companies, shareholdings or otherwise from the occupation, annexation and genocide in Gaza.”
The Social Democrats’ strong electoral performance in June, which saw them hold onto their six existing Dáil seats and ending up on 11 was widely seen as the party being more transfer-friendly and appealing to left-of-centre voters following Sinn Féin’s nationwide collapse in the polls.
Now, the knives are out for Hayes, with those who gave him a preference in Dublin Bay South possibly having second thoughts in future elections.
In Dublin Bay South, People Before Profit’s candidate Brigid Purcell saw 659 of her 1413’s preferences go to Hayes, a major factor in Hayes’ 723 vote victory over Andrews.
Southside TD Paul Murphy told Newstalk that Hayes should resign from the seat and donate any money made from his sold shares to Palestinian causes.
“It matters that when we go before the electorate, we tell the truth to people and people are able to make a decision on that basis,” the People Before Profit TD said.
June’s local election results and November’s general election showed that the Social Democrats were the main beneficiaries of transfers from People Before Profit supporters, but this affair has the potential to put a major dent in the informal transfer scheme between the parties.
Dún Laoghaire TD Richard Boyd Barret said “I think it’s pretty disgraceful; if I was the Social Democrats, I would be very concerned about that, because that flies in the face of what they stood for in front of the electorate. — their platform in relation to Palestine.”
Hayes has insisted he would sit in the Dáil as an independent, and would not fight a by-election in the seat.
In the United Kingdom, a recall petition can be ordered if 10% of the registered voters in a seat express no confidence in an MP and a by-election is triggered.
No such mechanism exists in Irish electoral law.
The optics of Hayes working for a Peter Thiel-owned company, considering Thiel being so fundamental to shaping the ideology of Donald Trump and providing assistance to the Israeli military, has now seen the Social Democrats face their second scandal involving a candidate in as many months.
In May, the party replaced their candidate Orli Degani – a German-born woman with Israeli citizenship – on the ballot in Dún Laoghaire ahead of the local elections after Degani had expressed unease with the party using the Palestine flag at party events.
Degani’s candidacy became “unsustainable” after she objected to the Palestinian flag being used at party events and Degani herself was not in favour of the stance adopted by the party in recent months.
“It saddens me greatly that taking a stand about local people’s right to be included and welcomed in our community has spiralled to me being de-selected by the Social Democrats,” she said at the time.