Congratulations To Eoin Hayes On Breaking A Unique Record In Irish Politics
Records are there to be broken, and his record is unlikely to be beaten!
Today’s latest news in the ongoing Eoin Hayes saga is that Gardai had to take a break from their usual duties of pondering why crime around O’Connell Street is so bad to handle a potentially explosive situation—that wasn’t. The Social Democrats offices on South Frederick Street, close to the political hive of the Dáil, had their nerves tested when a suspicious parcel addressed to Eoin Hayes landed at their doorstep.
Cue the evacuation of offices, sending the political staff and neighbouring office staff scurrying into the street or the pub, likely questioning their life choices and lunch plans. Around mid-morning, the gardai and the bomb squad swooped in, took a hard look at the concerning package, and declared, “Eh, never mind.”
Not that Eoin Hayes needed more spotlight. The freshly minted TD, who surprised everyone with his electoral victory in Dublin Bay South, found himself suspended by the Social Democrats this week for owning company shares in Palantir and his curious past employment with them. Palantir is a software company linked to, let’s say, less-than-controversy-free clients like the Israeli defence forces.
Hayes, who was elected to Dublin City Council, decided to cash in his golden ticket—selling Palantir shares for just shy of €200,000. A tidy sum for someone who had organised a gofundme for his election campaigns. However, like any political subplot worth its salt, Hayes told a massive whopper. Amusingly enough, if he had waited to sell his shares today, they’d be worth over €500,000.
At a press conference on the plinth of Leinster House, Hayes, with all the political sincerity he could muster, assured the assembled press corps that he had divested himself of those lucrative shares long before his foray into politics. But, as fortune (or meticulous journalism) would have it, this didn’t wash. You see, the seasoned scribes of Leinster House were already armed with facts, having dug into the matter with the kind of diligence known only to those keen on headline-worthy gaffes. Every journalist on the plinth of Leinster House knew he was lying to them. He sold his shares after he entered politics, not before. The smirking hacks inwardly smiling to themselves as a fox would happening upon an unguarded henhouse. The bemused journalists already had his declaration of interests to Dublin City Council in which he declared he had sold his shares in the last 12 months before he entered politics. The hacks gave him the rope; he hung himself.
Hayes said in his statement: "I unreservedly apologise for providing incorrect information, and I am now correcting the record. Hayes said he “made a mistake” that “wasn't intentional”. He apologised for the situation, saying, “This will not happen again”. That’s political speak, for I got caught lying, and I’m very sorry for getting caught lying, and hopefully, I won’t get caught again.
SIPO (Standards In Public Office, stop laughing down the back) has no power to sanction an individual in a case such as this. They can make findings. This is something my two dogs, Bella and Maisie, do on our regular walks and usually with more consequences than SIPO can carry.
It has since emerged Hayes also broke SIPO rules by breaching the donations limit he can receive. Under electoral funding laws, the maximum allowable donation to a politician from an individual is €1,000, falling to €100 if the person remains anonymous. Hayes confirmed he returned €1,500 of the €2,500 donated to his campaign by a person who did not disclose their name publicly. Any amount over the limit must be returned to the donor by the deadline after the election when candidates must declare their donations to SIPO, who can do very little about it anyway. There are massive issues with the anonymous nature of online fundraising for candidates that need to be regulated. That’s another article or something our electoral commission should look into more vigorously.
Eoin Hayes is unlikely to rejoin the Social Democrats anytime soon; he’s a heretic now, I’m surprised the more Puritanical of the Social Democrats didn’t build a bonfire on the plinth of Leinster House and burn him alive to show the electorate how socially holier than thou they are.
What Dáil record did our delinquent TD for Dublin Bay South break, you might be wondering.
Eoin Hayes has set a new record for being the fastest newly elected TD to face suspension from his party. Meanwhile, the Social Democrats find themselves marking an unfortunate milestone as well, becoming the first party to attend the first session of a new Dáil, having already lost a seat since the general election.