The gleeful attitude of the speakers wasn’t hard to catch on a recent Irish Times Political Podcast, as they discussed Eoin Hayes’s TD readmittance to the Social Democrats. At one point, the host commented, ‘I’m sensing a bit of admiration from both of you [the guests]’ on the ‘stagecraft’ and ‘tradecraft’ that manoeuvred Eoin Hayes back into the Social Democrats. The message throughout the segment was that the Social Democrats were finally ‘growing up’. They were shedding the accusation of being ‘too ideological, too virtue signalling, too pure’ to become just like the rest of the political establishment.
The class that rules us senses an opportunity here. The Social Democrats, which positioned themselves as an alternative to the establishment in the last election and benefited from it at the polls, have done something grubby, and are now trying to cover their tracks. Nothing shows this better than releasing a short statement about Hayes’s readmittance on a Friday night, just after 6, thus avoiding the Six One news, all while the Dáil is in recess when political activity in the South is essentially in stasis. As the podcast host said himself, ‘so their TDs are very unlikely to be questioned about this for several months.’ These misdeeds are common practice for the establishment, and what they are offering the leadership of the Social Democrats is the opportunity to avoid scrutiny if they continue to play by their game.
So what have the Social Democrats and Eoin Hayes done? As pointed out by Somhairle Mag Uidhir in Rebel previously, Eoin Hayes was caught lying and profiting from the genocide of Palestinians:
The results of this were that he was suspended from the Social Democrats for 9 months for lying, and donated a portion of the value of the sold shares to charity.
Throughout the period from Hayes’ suspension to readmittance, the Social Democrats were at pains to avoid any insights into the process, resulting in some deeply embarrassing press conferences. There was nothing offered to the public on what actions Hayes would be judged on. Would it be solely on the fact that he lied? Or that he purposely held onto Palantir shares, watching the price rise because of the company’s work aiding a genocide – a company he also worked for?
The question of who would judge was fudged too; their democratically elected executive endorsed the suspension but didn’t make any further decision, leaving it to their acting leader, who decided the squalid compromise should be done quietly and avoid as much scrutiny as possible.
The missing feature in all of this is the lack of any democracy. It’s obvious there is some discontent given the resignations from the Social Democrats – and probably more who bite their tongue – but conceding democratic accountability of political representatives makes these sordid deals possible. This is important because it now looks like Hayes’ return has been in train for much longer than the last few weeks.
The Irish Times podcast helpfully points out the ‘first signs of that were when they used the numbers they won the election with, which included Eoin Hayes, to argue for better seating arrangements in committee chairs and committee allocations.’ This is while he was suspended 4 months ago. The second clue, which even outstrips the first, is that the Social Democrats have been collecting Eoin Hayes’ portion of the Parliamentary Activities Allowance since December 2024. This would have netted them around €50,000 annually, and it would have required Eoin Hayes to have assigned it to the Social Democrats. So, while extolling the ambiguity of Hayes’ membership, the Social Democrats were cashing cheques on his behalf.
All of this results in a field day for our political establishment. One of the key beneficiaries of the desire for a change has been caught out, and no doubt this will disillusion some who supported them as a real chance for an alternative. Our ruling class delights in bringing any hope of resistance or chance for change to heel. That alone is the sordid history of our Labour Party in partnering with right-wing parties to blunt left-wing progress throughout its history. The point of ‘grown-up’ politics, apparently, is to head off change, not embrace it.
This was demonstrated by the call after Sinn Féin U-turned into agreeing with the demand to expel the Israeli Ambassador in November 2023. Immediately afterwards, there was a slew of articles chiding Sinn Féin for their U-turn and making it clear that if they wanted to be considered as a potential coalition partner in government, they could not be pressured by movements or the left. The choice taken by the Social Democrats was to break with the movements that offer real change, and demoralise the Palestinian Solidarity movement by preferring those whose first instinct was profiteering from a genocide.
The call for ‘grown-up’ politics is a call to play by the establishment’s rules, with the offer of positive coverage from the traditional media, to be allowed to govern with the potential of passing reforms that don’t upset the status quo, and finally all the perks of being part of the ruling club. All this has been so well demonstrated by the generations of the centre left and union officials on the boards of banks and corporations. We need to move past this failed vision for change.
We need a radical left that is confident in taking on the establishment and the crises they have handed us. This means breaking with a view that change only comes from governments and the grubby deals needed to get there. It means embracing the masses of people demonstrating and demanding fundamental change on housing, Palestine and the liberation of us all. This is what has driven people across the world to rebel and transform their societies. Picking up TDs like Eoin Hayes might offer the Social Democrats their next step towards small piecemeal change or potentially a chance of being in another coalition with the right, but it blunts the real prize in front of us.
