Social Democrat TD apologises for misleading the public

No different than Eamon De Velera.

I have no issue with Hayes owning shares, fair play to him. However, he is another shining example of the entitled generation.

Things got tough in Ireland in 2008, so instead of hanging around and using his vaunted entrepreneurial skills (the ones he is now hawking to others) to help create employment, he abandoned the country, made plenty of money abroad, got shares that are worth several hundred thousand euros, arrived back in 2018 ten years later (if it was so good abroad, why come home?) and has spent the time since complaining that the government won't give him a house in Dublin 4 paid for by the taxpayers who stayed and rebuilt the country, all the while sitting on a cash pile of shares.

The poster boy of his generation.

From the Journal article:

"Many, including me, ‘took the boat’ and only some (including me) ever returned."

He probably has several fairytales about his youth.

I don’t think Lowry will be a mud guard,he’ll top the poll as long as he continues to run

He’s always done better than any government he’s supported

He probably will, not sure about the other indies but yeah he'll be a shoe in

This incident also shows why this idea of a grand left alliance will never happen. Who are the parties most strongly coming out against him, saying he should resign. It's SF, PBP, the same parties they are supposed to be building this alternative left wing government with.

They are too stuck on ideology. Not nearly pragmatic enough, they could agree on 90% of things but fall out over the 10% they disagree on. It's more about staying ideologically pure than actually trying to govern.

Finally, a perfect example of this cringe portrayal of going abroad to work.

And I say that as someone who's younger than Mr. Hayes. And do not get me wrong, I remember around the same time too, many friends and family members did go abroad and it was a grim enough time unemployment wise.

But you'd swear with some of these articles, they were on coffin ships to America during famine times. It evokes a romanticised image of a person staring off into the distance, the sea in the background and the wind sweeping their hair.

He talks about returning then (as many did because the jobs are plenty again) and it's still a struggle somehow for him. Almost like he's done some sort of duty and has been let down. Meanwhile, he's sitting on 300k. Fair enough, capital gains etc. but absolutely no reason he couldn't have bought.

Its always the ones with the connections to be able to write these articles too. Those fairly comfortable and privileged anyway, adds a bit to the achievements and the CV. It's never a person legitimately struggling. Of which there are many and none of the above is to be taken as treating the housing situation as a trivial issue.

I'm simply saying, it's people generally like himself who are the loudest. Who have the social media engagement and connections. Those who are actually doing quite well, but get some strange kick off boost off being a victim or coming through "adversity". Proudly representing "their" generation. Recieving praise off people they have absolutely nothing in common with and are way ahead of economically. Come off it.

by his own account he had 7,000 shares.

Jack Horgan-Jones on the Inside Politics Podcast at 29 minutes says there was a previous 'doorstep' where they Socdems (leaders) were asked lots of questions about Hayes and Palantir and they "weren't forthcoming", so again why werent they prepared for press conference? (Im not sure if was the one all the way back on the 5th in front of the Seanad election notice board you can see an image from here https://www.irishtimes.com/podcasts/inside-politics/government-formation-simon-harris-warns-dont-take-us-for-granted-while-soc-dems-go-it-alone/ that was day the DM story was published).

I love to see a full unedited recording of both these questionings, even the short clips are cringe inducing.

It sounds like some of the journos knew exactly what had happened and when it happened, but probably weren't in a position to publish it until yer man fessed up.

dont think so, I think lying about the date was a surprise to everyone, I think both the reporter and the socdems thought the issue was all about Israel/Gaza. The socdems thought they would just bare out the accusations of hypocrisy now that the shares were sold, nobody thought he would lie about the date, until he refused to say it 20 times

Craigh Hughes follow up story, describes how he wanted the date so he could show the contradiction between Hayes and his leaders statements on divestment.

https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/world/dear-gary-this-is-senior-hurlin-so-don-t-play-the-man-an-open-letter-to-social-democrats-after-a-week-to-forget/ar-AA1vJ7lN

The Social Democrats have been to the fore of criticising the Government on their actions over Gaza. Most notably, party leader Holly Cairns said in November 2023 that ‘words alone are not enough to convey our horror and outrage’ as she sought for Ireland to divest all economic ties with Israeli companies. Ms Cairns likened inaction to complicity in genocide.

The timeline of when exactly Mr Hayes disposed of these shares was important, for the reason that any time after the November 2023 comments would be politically hypocritical for him, and for his party.

He explains it better then he did in his first article https://extra.ie/2024/12/05/news/soc-dems-td-eoin-hayes

He also says this on Newstalk

“The reason why this date (July) is crucial, is if you go back to November 2023 Holly Cairns, the Social Democrats leader, stood up in the Dáil and said that inaction in relation to Gaza is complicit with genocide, as she called on the Government to divest themselves completely from Israeli companies,” he said.

https://www.newstalk.com/news/political-hypocrisy-why-eoin-hayes-shares-sale-date-is-an-issue-for-the-soc-dems-1793793

The presenter Johnathan healy of Healy Communications seems very sympathic to the politician? wonder has he any politician clients?