Eoin Hayes, the Dublin Bay South TD elected to the Dáil only 10 days ago, has been suspended from the Social Democrats parliamentary party.
The development comes as Hayes confirmed that he had sold his shares in the software company Palantir for almost €200,000 the month after he was elected as a councillor in the recent local elections earlier this year.
This afternoon, Social Democrats Deputy Leader Cian O’Callaghan said in a statement that Hayes had been “suspended from the parliamentary party with immediate effect”.
“At a press conference today, Eoin Hayes stated he had sold shares in Palantir before he entered politics,” he said.
“This was not true. Eoin was first elected to Dublin City Council in June 2024 and the shares were sold in July 2024.
“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.
“For that reason, Eoin Hayes has been suspended from the Social Democrats parliamentary party with immediate effect.”
Hayes has been the subject of controversy since it came to light that he had divested of shares in Palantir, which supplies AI software to the Israeli Defence Forces. Notably, Palantir does business supplying software to a significant number of Governments and companies, including Airbus, Ferrari, BP, Morgan Stanley, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and more.
In a statement today, Hayes said he received 7,000 shares as part of his employment package when working for the company 7 years ago in the US. He then sold said shares in July this year for €199,000.
“I unreservedly apologise for providing incorrect information and I am now correcting the record,” he told the media today, adding that he had absolutely no role in anything defence related, Israeli or otherwise.
“…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.”
Some other Leftwing opposition parties have been quick to stick the boot in, with Sinn Féin spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Director of Elections, Matt Carthy TD, calling on Hayes to resign, claiming that he was elected on “false pretenses”.
“He was…elected on false pretenses, and I believe the honourable thing for him to do is to resign his seat,” Carthy said.
“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.”