Eoin Hayes suspended from Social Democrats after revealing he sold Palantir shares after council election

PA Reporters

Social Democrats TD Eoin Hayes has been suspended from the parliamentary party after revealing he sold his shares in a US software company which supplies technology to the Israeli military a month after he was elected as a councillor.

Mr Hayes won a Dáil seat in Dublin Bay South in the general election.

Earlier on, he refused to confirm when in the last year he divested himself fully of the shares in the company, which supplies technology to Israel to assist in their war in Gaza, despite repeated questions from the press.

Mr Hayes worked for the firm, of which the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) is a major client, between 2015 and 2017.

During a press conference with the re-elected and newly elected Social Democrats TDs, Mr Hayes said he was given shares as part of his compensation package.

Mr Hayes said he sold the shares after he became “greatly concerned” about the company’s relationship with the IDF, but would not confirm when he sold them or when he became concerned about the relationship.

It was reported in January this year that the data analytics firm, which provides militaries with artificial intelligence models, agreed to a partnership with the IDF to supply them technology in their war against Hamas in Gaza.

The firm’s artificial intelligence software and intelligence system is used to identify “targets”.

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