Absence of Eoin Hayes throws a spanner in the works at Social Democrats think-in

Where was Social Democrats TD Eoin Hayes? This was one of several questions about the Dublin Bay South TD hurled at deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan at a press conference during the party’s think-in on Tuesday in Dublin.Hayes was not the only party TD or Senator who wasn’t around to take questions from the media. But unlike the others, the meeting was taking place in the heart of his constituency. He had also been the subject of a fresh controversy.This focus put a spanner in the works of the Social Democrats’ efforts to publicise all of the thinking they were doing before the Dáil returns on Wednesday. READ MOREThe party wanted to highlight what O’Callaghan described as “energy and momentum” – the Dublin Central byelection win, strong poll showings – in contrast to the “stale” Government parties. Wicklow TD Jennifer Whitmore outlined a proposed response to the fuel crisis, including a windfall tax on energy companies that would raise up to €350 million, €400 of electricity credits for lower income households, and more support for the roll-out of solar power. But the reporters kept asking about Hayes.The Ditch website last week reported that Hayes had posted on a recruitment website about co-leading a team that was “executing a 40 per cent reduction in headcount” at tech company Wayflyer. The company announced in late 2022 that it was cutting 200 jobs from its global workforce, including up to 70 in Dublin. The report highlighted how Hayes wrote an opinion piece in The Irish Times in August about the plight of tech workers facing lay-offs.O’Callaghan responded to a question on the issue, saying losing a job is “very traumatic” and “we have huge empathy” with anyone in that situation. Last year’s Social Democrats think-in was overshadowed by a different storm surrounding Eoin Hayes. Photograph: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos He said Hayes had clarified that in his role at Wayflyer, he “wasn’t involved in the decision-making process around who was laid off”.Asked about Hayes being absent from the press conference, and if he was hiding, O’Callaghan replied: “He’s not. He will be along later. We don’t have the full parliamentary party here yet.”Indeed, there were a number of people missing, not least party leader Holly Cairns. She is in the third trimester of her second pregnancy and medical advice meant she did not attend. O’Callaghan said she hopes, pending medical advice, to be back in the Dáil in the coming weeks.In response to further questions, O’Callaghan said Hayes would “certainly” be running for the Social Democrats in the next general election and would be staying on as spokesman on social protection.It was all very reminiscent of last year’s think-in, which was overshadowed by a different storm surrounding Hayes. He apologised on the eve of that gathering for a “blackface” incident 16 years before. He had dressed up as former US president Barack Obama for a Halloween party.He had been readmitted to the Social Democrats only that summer after being suspended from the parliamentary party in December 2024 when it emerged he had issued misleading information about the sale of his shares in Palantir, a supplier to the Israeli military. Hayes has since donated more than €43,000 to aid organisations working in Gaza.[ Gardaí unlikely to get pursuit training in significant numbers until 2028, TDs toldOpens in new window ]Hayes issued a statement on Tuesday in response to the story in The Ditch and his absence from the press conference. He said his role at Wayflyer was “to model the financial impact of the decisions of the management team and the board”, that he was not on the board or the senior management team, and “did not make any decisions about who would be let go or how many people”.“In fact, I also lost my job at Wayflyer at that time,” he said. “I absolutely understand the trauma of losing a job, and set out in politics to try and build an economy that prevents or ameliorates these kinds of eventualities.”He said he was “among five members of the parliamentary party” not present at the press conference, “but everyone – except Holly – did attend the think-in”. He did not answer a question on why he was absent from the media opportunity.