Suspended Social Democrat TD Eoin Hayes starts making refunds ...
SUSPENDED Social Democrats TD Eoin Hayes is making refunds to people who donated to his council election campaign -- while he held shares worth almost €200,000.
Mr Hayes received 7,000 shares in Palantir -- a major supplier to the Israeli Defence Forces -- as part of his remuneration package when he worked for the firm in New York from 2015 to 2017.
On Tuesday, Mr Hayes repeatedly refused to say when exactly he sold his shares when questioned by media at a Social Democrats event.
Mr Hayes admitted in a subsequent statement that he sold his stake for €199,000 in July 2024, a month after the local elections.
A Go Fund Me page he established for those elections, which raised €8,895 in small donations, had been taken down yesterday.
Mr Hayes is now refunding the money, and it is understood that donors of over €1,500 have already had their money returned.
A Social Democrats source said one attempted donation was for €2,500, which could not be accepted under national election rules.
TD Eoin Hayes refuses to confirm when he sold shares in company which profits from Gaza war
Mr Hayes was said by colleagues to be "shell-shocked" after the car-crash press conference when he was questioned over when he disposed of the shares -- and responded by telling an untruth.
Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O'Callaghan said on Wednesday evening: "My understanding is he is making a refund of donations." Dublin Central TD for the party, Gary Gannon said he had spoken to Mr Hayes, "checking in with him, in terms of welfare today, just to see if he's okay. "He did mention in relation to the refund of donations. It was the first time I became aware of it, and it's going to be refunded."
Mr O'Callaghan was asked if Mr Hayes had offered to resign from the Social Democrats party, and he replied: "No."
The remaining parliamentary party meets tomorrow to decide on whether it is going to proceed with its talk on trying to form a new Government -- with some perceptions that the effort has been severely damaged by the Hayes affair.
Mr O'Callaghan said it had not been raised by the Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil leaders in outline discussions, but he admitted the party had "taken a knock" from the affair.
"We're going to update the parliamentary party tomorrow on the talks we've had with Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and indeed, Labour and Sinn Féin last week," he said.
"At that point, we'll decide what our next steps are. We will take reflective decision on that."
