CIAN O’CALLAGHAN’S administrative assistant has quit the Social Democrats following the party’s decision to lift Eoin Hayes’ suspension.

O’Callaghan, the deputy leader of the party, is currently acting leader while Holly Cairns is on maternity leave.

In a press release sent to newsrooms at 6.30pm last Friday, the Social Democrats announced that O’Callaghan had made the decision to lift the suspension of Dublin Bay South TD Eoin Hayes.

He said he believed Hayes deserved a “second chance”.

Hayes lost the whip in December last year, just weeks after his election, when he gave incorrect information to the media about the sale of shares in Palantir Technologies, his former employer.

Palantir, a US firm, supplies technology used by the Israeli Defence Forces.

Hayes said he has donated $51,000 to three humanitarian organisations active in Gaza following the lifting of his suspension.

He said this figure represents the increase in share price from October 7 2023 to July 26 2024, when he sold the shares.

In a statement yesterday evening, O’Callaghan’s administrative assistant, Martha Ní Riada, who is also a member of the party’s national executive, said she had quit the party as a result of the decision to lift Hayes’ suspension.

In a letter to party leadership, Ní Riada said Hayes decision to donate $51,000, the increase in his shares since 7 October 2023 was “insulting on a number of fronts”.

She noted that Israel’s occupation of Palestine did not begin on 7 October 2023, nor did Palantir’s operations in Israel.

She further noted that 40,000 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza between 7 October 2023 and the time Hayes sold his shares in 2024. She said that for these reasons, his donation was “redundant” and “sorely insufficient”.

Ní Riada concluded her letter by saying Hayes should not have been given a “second chance” by the party.

“With the reinstatement of Deputy Hayes, the Social Democrats have compromised their principles of integrity and honesty,” she said.

The Social Democrats and Cian O’Callaghan have been contacted for comment.