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WE ALL KNOW the saying, ‘there are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen’.
It’s been an even more accelerated timeline for newly elected Social Democrats TD Eoin Hayes.
The new deputy for Dublin Bay South walked out on the plinth of Leinster House with his head held high, ready for his first official press conference as a TD.
Less than five hours later he was suspended from his parliamentary party with immediate effect.
What happened?
Hayes was elected as a TD earlier this month, pipping outgoing Sinn Féin TD Chris Andrews for the final seat in the four-seat constituency.
Hayes, who up until entering politics described himself as a consultant who helps small businesses to grow, first entered politics in June of this year when he was elected as a councillor for the Rathmines-Kimmage area of Dublin City Council.
As a political candidate, and then councillor, Hayes largely remained under the radar until last week when the Irish Daily Mail ran a story about Hayes’ past employment with a US tech firm called Palantir.
What is Palantir?
Palantir Technologies is a secretive US company co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel that specialises in national security and law enforcement.
The firm provides militaries, including the Israeli Defence Forces, with artificial intelligence (AI) models used in battlegrounds to help identify targets.
Its software has been used by Israel to identify targets in Gaza.
In addition to its military AI models, the company, created in Silicon Valley, has argued that its tech platform helps catch terrorists and keep people safe.
But some activists argue that Palantir’s technology – which scoops up financial records, social media posts, call records and internet records – enables unprecedented opportunities for mass surveillance with little oversight on privacy and fundamental rights.
How does this relate to Eoin Hayes and the Social Democrats?
Hayes worked for the firm from 2015 to 2017. His LinkedIn profile states that he worked in “strategy (commercial)”.
Until recently, Hayes continued to hold shares in the firm, something that he disclosed in his declaration of assets upon being elected as a councillor in June.
In his declaration – which was erroneously signed June 2024 but which a spokesperson for the Social Democrats clarified this afternoon was actually signed in July 2024 – Hayes stated that he divested the shares “within the last 12 months”.
This brings us to this morning, when the Social Democrats had arranged their first media appearance on the plinth at Leinster House following the election.
During the media doorstep, Hayes was repeatedly asked by reporters when he sold his shares in Palantir and how much he sold them for. He repeatedly refused to give an answer on when exactly he sold them.
Instead, when continuously pushed on the matter, Hayes told reporters that he sold the shares before he entered politics.
“As soon as I became aware that Israel had very close relationships with that company I divested,” Hayes told reporters earlier.
However, in a statement sent by the Social Democrats just before 3pm this afternoon, Hayes clarified that what he told reporters this morning was “not true”.
Hayes went on to apologise and said that he actually sold his shares in July 2024, a month after he was elected as a councillor.
He also stated that he sold the shares for a pre-tax figure of €199,000.
What happened next?
Shortly after this statement was issued by Hayes and the party, another statement was issued, this time by deputy party leader Cian O’Callaghan.
Shortly after 4pm, Eoin Hayes was suspended from the parliamentary party with immediate effect.
O’Callaghan, who had stood beside Hayes earlier in the day and said he was satisfied with his answers, said in the statement: “At a press conference today, Eoin Hayes stated he had sold shares in Palantir before he entered politics. 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.”
Where will this go next?
It is unclear for now how long Hayes’ suspension will be in place for.
His suspension from the parliamentary party does not impact his role as a TD and he remains a TD for Dublin Bay South.
TDs from other political parties have already started to call for his scalp, with Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy this evening saying that Hayes’ should resign as a TD.
For the Social Democrats, a number of questions remain outstanding from this embarrassing affair.
Among these, is a question mark over the party’s selection criteria and background checking of candidates.
What questions were asked by the party of Hayes and when – both before and after the Mail published its story on the shares?
The Journal has asked the Social Democrats these questions, but has not yet received a response.
Includes reporting from PA and AFP.
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iPad is without doubt one of the best devices I have ever owned, I love it.
You love it? Wow.
I would guess most people had held out for the last 2-3 months on buying an iPad as the new models were being announced last week.
iPad sales had seen a massive drop in their last earnings report too. It will be even bigger this time next year, people don’t own large-screened phones and use tablets too, it’s pointless. I could see the point of owning both when the iPhone screens were tiny, not now though.
I would imagine people change phones more often than they change a tablet, so the top-end of the tablet market may be suffering some saturation at the moment before it settles into a normal renewal cycle.
I’m genuinely surprised how little iTunes contributes to their income.
Android is still too buggy , there are too many cheap android devices that can’t perform basic tasks.
Anyone can operate an iPad whether they are 3 or 83 , the older generation have embraced apple tech much easier than android!
Get yourself a Samsung. So much better. Ive used ipads before the Samsung. So slow. Im not surprised sales are falling.
I would totally agree.
The fact that you cannot add SD card memory was my turning point.
The 10.1″ Galaxy NOTE 2014 would kick any IPad in performance.
I prefer using the Samsung. Haven’t used the ipad since.
Tablets are used more for watching TV on. Ipads are far too restrictive in what you can and can’t watch.
An android with mobdro and you’re good to go.
Writing this on an iPad that’s 3 1/2 yrs old although it can’t be updated anymore it’s still one of The best bits of Tech I’ve ever owned
I wish they’d change the iTunes interface, it’s such a pain in the hole.
Is the large version of iphone 6 being used as an alternative to the ipad mini?
Yes, I would imagine you are correct. Certainly wouldn’t be a massive difference now between the phones and the iPad mini.
Great phone by the way, the Samsung killer I would say.
Is Apple the cult Tom cruise and John travolta are involved in. (Wrote on my iPhone)
Some people might be holding out for the new iPads, but Apple has been losing ground to Android-based tablets for the past two years: http://blog.globalwebindex.net/Android-dominates-tablet
I’d say they’re fine losing market share to the €100 Android tablets that you see knocking about, the people buying those were unlikely to get an iPad. I’d like to see a breakdown of the flagship tablet market.
Wasn’t Apple heavily dependant on iPod sales at one stage too…
Love Apple computers, don’t like their phones!
That’s odd in the last apple story there was a guy who’s friend worked in a mobile phone shop and apparently they couldn’t sell any iPhones at all.
I was sure that was a reliable source for sales figures.
Being a user of both, I can definitely say that Apple is to restrictive and therefore useless in a lot of ways. Once they have you, they want to enslave you into buying all their products. To many frustrations. Would definitely not recommended Apple. Don’t become an Apple zombie!
Have both myself also , but do not find any real restrictions on IOS. Depends how you use them I suppose. Both are great, but if generally find Apple a better interface and build quality.
I haven’t come across an interesting new app for ages. It’s good to see the hardware improving but the software people seem to have hit a brick wall. It seems to me that the industry needs more personal information from us to develop but we are getting more careful and taking the privacy option where possible. The U2 album fiasco showed that what we want is not what they want to give us. We want to draw back from the always on connected world and to pick and choose how we interact.
Htc have a new range of tablets Comming out on November 3rd and if they are anything like the HTC One M8 phone They will storm the tablet Charts.Sd card will mean a lot more storage freed up on the tablet itself.
HTC One M7 & M8 are great phones but unfortunately they do not sell very well HTC made a big loss on the M7, have improved with the M8, but still nowhere near the likes of Samsung.
Don’t really like Apple myself(except I-tunes, where theres no choice) think Sony is much better all round.
I think the fizz has left Apple recently, it’s not big news anymore.
Always used iPhones but today i upgraded to an S5. Vodafone are out of stock with no date for new iPhone 6 handsets and it would have cost me 250 blips. S5 is free with the same if not better specs. Total no brainer
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