The Social Democrats decision to readmit its TD for Dublin Bay South, Eoin Hayes, to the parliamentary party marks an answer – of sorts – to a difficult question for the party.
The suspension was handed down (without a fixed term attached) after he inaccurately told the media that he had sold shares in a company he formerly worked for before he entered politics.
The company, Palantir, has lucrative contracts with the Israel Defense Forces – which prompted charges of hypocrisy in the first instance, given the party’s outspoken stance on the bombardment of Gaza. This became politically combustible once he admitted he sold the shares for €199,000 after he was elected to Dublin City Council last year.
The decision on Hayes’s future conjured a range of overlapping procedural, political and ethical questions for the party. He was not suspended for holding the Palantir shares, nor for selling them at a profit (he has donated $51,000 to charity – representing the after-tax uplift in the value between October 7th, 2023 and the time they were sold). He could only be sanctioned for the offence he was being punished for – specifically, issuing inaccurate information and misleading the media.
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However, TDs know that some members will find that narrow logic difficult to swallow. “I’m happy with the decision; I think it was the right one,” says one TD, but acknowledges that there is a “mixture” of views on it in the party. “I know a lot of people are really hurt,” said the same TD.
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The decision, under the party’s constitution, falls to the leader – or acting leader in the case of Dublin Bay North TD Cian O’Callaghan. Members of the parliamentary party heard the news was coming before a press release announcing that Hayes had been readmitted to the party landed, shortly after 6pm last Friday.
The timing in the political calendar is helpful – with the Dáil in recess and many politicians (not to mention political correspondents) on holidays, the risk of a TD being put on the spot in front of a microphone is reduced.
Party TDs who spoke to The Irish Times on the condition of anonymity recognised that it was a decision that would have consequences that would need to be managed – but felt that on balance it had to be done.
“You need to make decisions in politics,” said one TD.
A second TD surmised that people were “frustrated and upset” over the issue, outlining the belief that the party will lose members and supporters arising from Hayes’ readmission.
Much speculation has centred on Dublin Rathdown TD Sinead Gibney, who party colleagues perceive as holding the deepest misgivings over readmitting Hayes. Gibney herself has been keeping her counsel, although some party colleagues believe she is “ okay with it”.
Undoubtedly, among the first questions for leader Holly Cairns once she returns from maternity leave will be about the Hayes saga – and the parliamentary party and headquarters will have to figure out what they say about that. But the overriding political reasoning, outlines a party source, was that the longer it went on, the more difficult it became to avoid a final decision, and the more awkward the strategic questions became. Why Hayes was readmitted – even if it will invite scrutiny as to whether it undermines the party’s position on Gaza – is a “much more answerable question”, in the view of this party figure.
Most party sources believe that departures from staff or the membership will be limited – although one member, Martha Ni Riada, who also worked for acting leader O’Callaghan, tweeted a resignation from the party following the decision. It remains to be seen if others will follow, but TDs and party sources who spoke to The Irish Times believe it will not be an exodus. Members will be listened to and the party will explain its position if asked, one TD said, adding: “It was a mistake – he made a big mistake but there has to be a way back from big mistakes as well.”
