EOIN HAYES HAS taken down his GoFundMe and iDonate pages that were set up to fund his election bids due to “increased public interest” in the contributions and his desire to protect some donors’ privacy.

Hayes was elected to the Dáil as a Social Democrats TD in the general election, but has since been suspended from the parliamentary party after he confirmed he gave incorrect details about when he sold shares he held in a software firm that supplies technology to the Israeli Defence Forces.

The shares were worth €199,000 before tax when he sold them.

Hayes has now removed his funding pages for his local and general election bids this year, the latter of which received almost €9,000 in donations.

In a statement, he said he has returned €1,500 to one doner of his general election campaign, as the contribution of €2,500 exceeded the legal annual limit of €1,000 for individuals.

“He made that donation online, using the anonymous function on GoFundMe, and did not discuss that anonymity or the amount with me prior to making the donation,” said Hayes.

“I understand the donor confused the annual party limit (€2,500) with the annual individual limit (€1,000). 

“I wrote to the donor and explained I would need to refund the excess (€1,500) and he agreed to this course of action, reiterated his support for me, and I have now refunded those funds.”

Rules around funding for donations to politicians mean a candidate cannot accept an amount that exceeds €1,000 from one person. If a politician does accept more than €1,000 for any reason, the politician must pay back the difference.

Hayes added in his statement that since the shares controversy, no donor has requested their money back. 

“In fact, many have sent me messages of encouragement and support.”

Hayes said his reason for taking the funding pages down now is that in recent days there has been “increased public interest” in the contributions. 

He said that “while I have an obligation to provide names of donors in annual disclosures and am currently preparing those disclosures, not all donors names are required to be in the public domain”.

“So in the interest of the donors’ right to privacy, I decided to take down the pages.”

Incorrect timeline

Until the summer, Hayes continued to hold shares in Palantir, a firm he worked for from 2015 to 2017.

He disclosed this in his declaration of assets upon being elected as a councillor in the Kimmage-Rathmines area in June.

In his declaration – which was erroneously signed June 2024 but which a spokesperson for the Social Democrats later said was actually signed in July 2024 – Hayes stated that he divested the shares “within the last 12 months”.

During a press conference with SocDems TDs on Tuesday, Hayes was repeatedly asked by reporters when exactly he sold his shares in Palantir and how much he sold them for. He repeatedly refused to give an answer on when exactly he sold them. 

Instead, when continuously pushed on the matter, Hayes told reporters that he sold the shares before he entered politics. 

“As soon as I became aware that Israel had very close relationships with that company I divested,” Hayes told reporters.

However, in a statement sent by the Social Democrats later that day, Hayes clarified that what he told reporters this morning was “not true”. 

Hayes went on to apologise and said that he actually sold his shares in July 2024, a month after he was elected as a councillor.

He was subsequently suspended from the parliamentary party. This does not impact his Dáil seat and he remains a TD for Dublin Bay South.

He removed his GoFundMe and iDonate pages on Tuesday evening.