Eoin Hayes readmitted to Social Democrats after eight-month suspension
Mr Hayes said he should have not held the shares as long as he did and has donated the equivalent of €43,443 to three aid organisations working in Gaza.
Advertisement
He said the amount reflected the increase in the value of the shares he held over the course of Israel's military offensive in Gaza.
The Social Democrats won 11 seats in November's election but Mr Hayes was indefinitely suspended from the parliamentary party in December – just a month after being elected.
He had initially told the media and his party colleagues that he divested shares in his former employer, Palantir Technologies, prior to being elected to Dublin City Council last June.
The company supplies technology to Israel's military.
Advertisement
But he later revealed that he sold the shares last July – after taking office – for a pre-tax figure of €199,000.
The Social Democrats had been calling for economic sanctions against Israel months before Mr Hayes' election to the council.
The Dublin Bay South TD's suspension was reviewed by the national executive of the party before being considered further by the parliamentary party.
Just after 6:30pm on Friday, the Social Democrats said his suspension had been lifted.
Advertisement
It said in a statement the decision was made by acting leader Cian O'Callaghan in line with the party's constitution.
'Eoin has been suspended from the parliamentary party for nearly eight months and I believe he should be given a second chance,' Mr O'Callaghan said.
'Eoin has a lot to offer as a Social Democrats TD and I look forward to working with him.'
Mr Hayes said: 'At the outset, I want to give a full and unequivocal apology for giving the incorrect information to the media about when I divested from Palantir.
Advertisement
'I also want to be clear that I should not have held the shares for as long as I did.
Ireland
Committee urges Government to include services in...
Read More
'For that reason, I have donated 51,000 dollars to three humanitarian organisations active in Gaza – split between UNRWA, Unicef and Doctors without Borders.
'This figure represents the uplift in share price, less applicable taxes, from October 7th 2023 to July 26th, 2024, when I sold the shares.
'I know I have let people down and I am determined to work hard and earn back people's trust.'
Advertisement
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Teenage boy who was maimed in Gaza becomes the first to be treated for war injuries in the UK
A boy of 15 maimed in Gaza became the first to receive treatment for war injuries in London as Donald Trump 's envoy touched down in the devastated territory yesterday. Majd Alshaghnobi suffered severe facial injuries and a shattered leg while searching for food with two friends last year. He was brought to the UK by Project Pure Hope, a charity set up by senior healthcare workers who have also treated children from Ukraine and Israel. Meanwhile, Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, along with the US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, made a rare trip into Gaza to visit an aid station and devise a plan to get aid into the strip. Mr Witkoff tweeted: 'We spent over five hours inside Gaza. The purpose of the visit was to give the President a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza.' On Thursday, Mr Trump said he did not believe Israel's denials of famine in Gaza, saying there was 'real starvation' happening. 'We want to get people fed,' he said. 'It is something that should have happened a long time ago.' The UN says that more than 1,300 people queuing for aid at centres run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is backed by Israel, have been killed since late May. Rights group have condemned the centres as a 'death trap'. Meanwhile, Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, along with the US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee (both pictured), made a rare trip into Gaza to visit an aid station and devise a plan to get aid into the strip Yesterday, wounded Madj was applauded by well-wishers when he arrived at Heathrow airport in London. He said Israeli soldiers had opened fire on him and his friends, killing one and seriously injuring the other two, as they waited for aid. His medical team, all working for free, will include craniofacial, plastic and orthodontic surgeons. Hospital bills will be covered by private donations. Lead surgeon Professor Noor ul Owase Jeelani, of London's Great Ormond Street Hospital, said Majd's arrival comes after months of wrangling over a temporary visa. 'If we are able to give him a face and a jaw, it won't be completely normal, but hopefully he will be able to feed himself and speak, and his facial expressions will be better,' he said. 'Hopefully that will make a big impact on how he lives and on his future. 'Our hope is that we will be able to help many more children like him in the coming months. It's our collective moral responsibility. I don't quite understand why it's taken us over 20 months to get to this stage.' Majd's arrival comes a week after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was planning to evacuate badly injured children from Gaza. Dozens of MPs have called on him to establish a Ukraine-style visa to allow Gazans to enter Britain for medical treatment Majd's arrival comes a week after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was planning to evacuate badly injured children from Gaza. Dozens of MPs have called on him to establish a Ukraine-style visa to allow Gazans to enter Britain for medical treatment. Omar Din, an NHS healthcare executive and co-founder of Project Pure Hope, said: 'Every day of delay risks the lives and futures of children who deserve a chance to live, to recover and to rebuild a life.' Two Gazan girls aged five and 12 with long-term medical problems were brought to London for treatment in April.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
NSW supreme court rules in favour of pro-Palestine march across Sydney Harbour Bridge
Pro-Palestinian protesters will be legally protected while marching across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday after a New South Wales supreme court decision. The Palestine Action Group has claimed as many as 50,000 people will take part in the march across the iconic bridge, protesting against Israel's conduct in Gaza and the starvation of children. Earlier this week, police rejected an application from organisers for it to facilitate the march. Police argued there was not enough time to prepare a traffic management plan and warned of a potential crowd crush and huge disruptions. Once the application, known as 'a form 1' was rejected by police, the supreme court was required to decide whether the protest should be considered as 'authorised', which provides some legal protections to demonstrators. The court ruling means protesters will have immunity from being charged under the summary offences act. This includes protection from offences like 'obstructing' traffic – crucial in this particular protest. However, police will still have access to a range of other powers to stem so-called 'anti-social behaviour' or other types of offending. This includes showing prohibited symbols. David Mejia-Canales, a senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, said the authorisation 'doesn't give people the ability to engage in all types and all forms of activism'. 'It's really important for people who do attend that they follow the directions of organisers and marshals.' There is no authority to ban protest or deem it unlawful in NSW. This is because while there is no express right to protest in the state, it is covered in common law and by the Australian constitution, which the high court has found implies the right to freedom of political communication. The Palestinian Action Group's lawyer, Felicity Graham, told the court on Friday that organisers would proceed with the demonstration regardless of the decision. 'I have the firmest of instructions that Palestine Action Group are proceeding with this protest … it cannot be stopped,' Graham said. Graham said her argument was not to threaten the court, but to point out 'the police have no choice' and there was no evidence prohibiting the protest would increase public safety. 'The intention to march, irrespective of an immunity, is grounded in a belief that the situation is one of profound moral urgency and that the time is now,' she said. A spokesperson for the group, Josh Lees, said they were willing to delay protest by up to three weeks if the police were willing to work with them. The police's barrister Lachlan Gyles argued that what was being asked was 'unprecedented' in terms of the 'risk, the lack of time to prepare, and, of course, the location, which is one of the main arteries in one of the largest cities in the world'. 'There's been no liaison whatsoever with any of the agencies and government authorities who would be involved, most particularly Transport for New South Wales,' he said. The decision came after several NSW Labor MPs defied their premier, Chris Minns, by vowing to attend the march. Labor's Stephen Lawrence, Anthony D'Adam, Lynda Voltz, Cameron Murphy and Sarah Kaine were among 15 NSW politicians who signed an open letter on Thursday evening calling on the government to facilitate 'a safe and orderly event' on Sunday
Times
2 hours ago
- Times
Families criticise Starmer and say hostages ‘will rot in Hamas dungeons'
Hostages held captive in Gaza will continue to 'rot in Hamas dungeons' under Sir Keir Starmer's plan to bring peace to the Middle East. Lawyers representing the relatives of British people who were held by Hamas and those who had been murdered said the prime minister's peace plan would harm the remaining hostages in Gaza. Adam Wagner KC and Adam Rose, acting for the seven British families of hostages in Gaza, said four of the families met with senior Foreign Office officials on Thursday evening. In a statement, they said that British recognition of a Palestinian state if Israel and Hamas failed to reach a ceasefire by September would 'disincentivise Hamas from agreeing a deal'. They asked: 'Why would Hamas agree to a ceasefire if it knew that to do so would make British recognition of Palestine less likely?'. They said the families had 'held out some hope that the policy could not be as they feared and that since the UK had chosen to impose conditions on recognition, those conditions would also be on Hamas, as otherwise they would essentially be rewarded for continuing to commit war crimes, including hostage taking and encouraged to continue that path'. But that 'it was clear from the meeting last night that the British government's policy will not help the hostages, and could even hurt them'. Wagner and Rose claimed the release or otherwise of hostages would 'play no part' in the decision ministers will make in September and added: 'In other words, the 'vision for peace', which the UK is pursuing and which the families heard much about last night, may well involve our clients' family members continuing to rot in Hamas dungeons, just as British and British-linked hostages Emily Damari and Eli Sharabi did before them.' Starmer said the UK would only refrain from recognising Palestine if Israel allowed more aid into Gaza, stops annexing land in the West Bank, agrees to a ceasefire and signs up to a long-term peace process over the next two months. While he also called for Hamas to immediately release all remaining Israeli hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, disarm and 'accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza', he did not explicitly say these conditions would factor into a decision on whether recognition would go ahead. The US accused Starmer, Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, and President Macron of France of being 'clumsy' by saying they would recognise a Palestinian state before all hostages were released. Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said recognition of Palestine as a state was 'irrelevant' and told Fox News Radio: 'The UK is like, well, 'if Israel doesn't agree to a ceasefire by September, we're going to recognize a Palestinian state. So if I'm Hamas, I say, 'you know what, let's not allow there to be a ceasefire.' If Hamas refuses to agree to a ceasefire, it guarantees a Palestinian state will be recognized by all these countries in September.' The British families want the government to 'confirm that without the hostages being released, there can be no peace, and that this will be an important part of its decision as to whether to proceed with recognition and its current plan'. Starmer said this week that 'I've been absolutely clear and steadfast that we must have the remaining hostages released, that's been our position throughout'. However, Damari, a British-Israeli woman who was held captive by Hamas, accused him of 'not standing on the right side of history' and said she was 'deeply saddened' by his decision. The families of Damari and Sharabi were among those who met with the Foreign Office. Also present were relatives of Nadav Popplewell, who died while held captive, as well as those of Oded Lifshitz, who also died, and Yocheved Lifschitz, who was released. The government said: 'We have announced our intention to recognise Palestine in September to protect the viability of the two-state solution. The first step in that process must be a ceasefire and there is no question about that. 'Our demands on Hamas have not changed. For there to be any chance of peace, the hostages must be released. Hamas must lay down its weapons and commit to having no future role in the governance of Gaza. 'We must also see significant progress on the ground including the supply of humanitarian support and for Israel to rule out annexations in the West Bank, and a commitment to a long-term sustainable peace. We will make an assessment ahead of UNGA (the United Nations general assembly) on how far both Israel and Hamas have met the steps we set out. No one side will have a veto on recognition through their actions or inactions.' President Trump had also expressed his 'displeasure and disagreement' with Starmer over the promise to recognise a Palestinian state. The US president, who had previously suggested he was relaxed about the prospect, even though he disagreed, hardened his stance after more countries said they would recognise Palestine. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Trump had expressed his 'displeasure and his disagreement with the leaders of France, the United Kingdom and Canada'. She told reporters: 'He feels as though that's rewarding Hamas at a time where Hamas is the true impediment to a ceasefire and to the release of all of the hostages.' Dame Diana Johnson, the crime and policing minister, said there would be an assessment in September on whether the British government will recognise a Palestinian state. Asked if hostages being released would be a condition of that, she told Times Radio: 'Neither side has a veto on what the British government choose to do in September. And that will be an assessment that will be taking place in September. 'The prime minister has set out what he expects from Israel. Obviously, that's a democratically elected government, very different to Hamas, which is a terrorist organisation.' She said: 'We need to actually have the ceasefire, and then move on to trying to re-establish that peace process and the establishment of what my party and I think generally is accepted, a two-state solution.'
