Louise Burne: Social Democrats cannot hide Eoin Hayes for the next three years
Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O'Callaghan (centre) speaking to the media at its parliamentary party think-in in Dublin, with (left to right) Jen Cummins, Pádraig Rice, Daniel Ennis, Jennifer Whitmore, Gary Gannon, Sinéad Gibney and Rory Hearne. O’Callaghan was left cleaning up the mess as the party continues to hide Hayes. Picture: Cillian Sherlock/PA
The Social Democrats have a lot to boast about. Their party is riding high in the polls at 10%, a whole seven points above their nearest rivals, the Labour Party.
Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns is the most popular leader in the country and the party is once again showing its progressiveness as she takes the maternity leave to which she is rightly entitled ahead of the birth of her second child.
The party even managed to gain an extra TD in the last Dáil term, with Daniel Ennis winning the seat vacated in Dublin Central by Fine Gael’s Pascal Donohoe.
And yet, for the second year in a row, the Social Democrats think-in came off the rails as it was dogged by questions about Eoin Hayes.
The Dublin Bay South TD has found himself in hot water several times since his election in November 2024. First, he misled the media and the party about the sale of shares in Palantir, a US tech company that is linked to the Israeli Defence Forces.
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Then, pictures of him emerged dressed as Barack Obama, in full blackface and all, at a fancy-dress party. Now, he has been accused of “boasting” about being involved in tech lay-offs before entering politics.
What does Eoin Hayes have to say about all of this, I hear you cry. Well, it would be nice to know. But the Social Democrats insist on hiding him.
The last time Mr Hayes addressed the media was the disastrous day in December 2024 when he was quizzed at length about when he sold the Palantir shares. He was suspended mere hours later for giving those of us there that day wrong information.
He was readmitted to the party in July 2025 and has not been seen on the Leinster House plinth since, despite the Social Democrats holding at least one press conference there a week.
Just hours after the blackface picture emerged last year, he was absent from the party’s think-in, forcing Holly Cairns to go to bat for him, while also expressing discomfort about the photograph.
Now, 12 months later, when another story that involves Eoin Hayes hits the headlines, he is conspicuous by his absence.
This time, it was Cian O’Callaghan who was left cleaning up the mess as the party continues to hide Hayes in some purple basement. He would be there later, Mr O’Callaghan said. But only when the media had left.
He could not attribute tardiness to bad traffic, given that he lives in the same constituency that the event was being held in.
Rather than being quizzed about its policies, like Jennifer Whitmore’s calls to tax energy companies’ windfall profits, the party spent most of its time answering questions about Mr Hayes.
Mr O’Callaghan insisted that Mr Hayes, who is the party’s social protection spokesman, does engage with media. He puts out press releases all the time, he said. But that is the issue for the Social Democrats; Issuing a statement is not the same as answering questions.
The longer Eoin Hayes is kept away from the media, the worse it is going to be when they eventually put him out to talk. They cannot lock him away for the next three years if they want him to hold his seat in the next general election.
When asked if he realised the party was elongating the pain, Mr O’Callaghan said the Social Democrats are “very focused on the job that we have to do”.
I would have liked to have been writing about that now. But, instead, Eoin Hayes has once again derailed a Social Democrats think-in. And that is no one’s fault but their own for keeping him locked away.
- Louise Burne, political correspondent
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